The Ronin Mercenary
by Ketzio11
Summary: A rogue Lucario travels to the Hoenn Region, currently controlled by a Totalitarian Government: The Karysan Empire, and faces a series of trials that will ultimately reveal what he truly is.
1. ACT 1 The Blue Eyed Lucario

(BEFORE READING: I believe you should know that this is a complete remake of Black Mercury BUT there is something completely different, yes, the storyline has been changed quite a bit and there is the whole timeline difference… you will see that it is mostly about Government, not a fight for survival. In other words, this is more of a realistic version of Black Mercury… plus, this is not just a pointless bloodbath, it is safe to say the extreme violence that may happen in this story will be all for good reasons… not just for the thrill of murdering.)

Hoenn Region: 2119. The Karysan Empire begins to break down upon its own weight. It was based on Totalitarianism, a Government which regulated nearly every private or public aspect of life. A Mismagius by the name of Vaxrilla Aika crowned herself as the Dictator of this Region during its struggle and promises an era of peace. It is 21 years after the Anti-Pokemon Revolution where all humans suddenly and unexpectedly turned on all Pokemon… attempting to bring forth a mass extinction of the race overall. They failed. Totalitarianist

This Government had brought upon nothing but depression among the Hoenn Region, starvation, crimes, death toll rising dramatically… it was a horrible time to live and the Karysan Empire did nothing about it, they only cared for themselves and did whatever they could to bring the Hoenn Region pride… not food… but pride was their concern.

A deadly clan of Lucarios by the name of Riocynn wandered through the outlands, reeking havoc wherever they went… hired by Vaxrilla Aika to dispose of those who resent her power. That is… until they started looking after themselves. They began demanding land and honor and even creating their own country within the Hoenn Region.

The Riocynn clan was then branded as hostile.

This finally forced one of the most powerful Lucarios in that clan: Known as the undefeatable Riocynn, away from the chaos his family caused others. He turned into a Ronin Mercenary, hired by the less fortunate, who only does well for people instead of mindlessly harming them… he was the only Riocynn in the world who cared for other people.

Just a month after his departure, however, the undefeatable Riocynn vanished, said to have been assassinated by his own brother. Soon afterward, the legendary clan of Riocynn fell; ending their onslaught with only a few survivors left, disorganized and out of their group… all of them had vanished off the face of the Earth. There was not a soul in the world who did not hear about this occurrence.

It is said that before the Ronin Mercenary had vanished, he had done so many great things for people. With his saber he carved through the deception of the Karysan Empire, bringing forth hope that this chaotic time will not last forever… now that he is gone… hope has gone with him.

**

Lilycove city, Urban Area

It was 4:32 in the morning, the majority of the residence was fast asleep, traffic had slowed down, and peace was starting to settle in. A Pokemon had just been introduced to the city; it was a Lucario, a man by the looks of it… but there was something off about him: His eyes were blue instead of red like a normal Lucario. He was forced to go through an annoying security process which ultimately led to him finally walking through the main gates of the city.

They created an ID for him; it was just so he could stay in Lilycove.

Whenever a new citizen would enter a city, a short alarm would go off. Several people awoke, lights from house windows turned on. Some babies began to cry. The Lucario cringed at the fact that he caused a disruption with those citizens' sleep and he silently apologized even if he was fully aware of the fact that they couldn't hear him.

The Lucario remained silent as the two Officers that granted him permission within Lilycove's borders escorted him to the closest and cheapest hotel, motel, or Inn where he could spend the night until he was able to make his own living. The Lucario wore a dark blue cloak, no hood; on his hip he held a blade, referred to as the Shamshir Saber. A 30 inch blade with a 6 inch hilt, the Lucario told them he could not travel without his sword at his side and he would not walk the streets with it after he got settled.

In this Government, it is not until after the crime has been committed the person becomes punished, if someone wanted, they could walk into the city with an RPG on their shoulders; they would be closely watched by Assassins and Snipers so if they make the wrong move, their life would end right there.

They escorted the Lucario to the Kairet Inn, not exactly a hotel but the Lucario stopped them and said that this place was more suited to his interests. What could the Officers do? They dropped him off and returned to their posts. The doors slid open, a comforting heated breeze blew in his face, and the smell of cocoa butter pleased his olfactory sense. The carpet felt nice under his feet, so soft and so comfortable. After wandering around on the cold hard roadsides, this was a pleasant change.

There was only one receptionist behind the large, dark brown desk in front of 2 elevators to the right and left. The receptionist was a shiny Gardevoir in a white dress that complimented how she looked as what type of Pokemon she was, her name-tag stated she was "Kisu Narraley" so the Lucario addressed her as such.

"Good morning, Kisu Narraley." He said with a soft and welcoming voice. He gave her a friendly smile even as he carried that Shamshir Sword around with him. She was reading a book, lowered it, and gave him a judgmental look just from the cloak and sword. He was a Lucario, and in her mind… ever since the Riocynn incident… she believed all Lucarios were killers.

She noticed his unusually blue eyes, "A blue-eyed Lucario? I've heard of that before but…" her thoughts were interrupted when she noticed the sword, "You're not going to kill me, are you?" she responded apathetically then returned to her book. She had security cameras everywhere but technically, they weren't for her business… they were so the Government could watch their every move. She figured this Lucario is most likely being watched by Karysan Snipers right now… so if he made a move the only thing she would be worried about is having blood all over her clean desk.

The Lucario gave a calm, amused laugh; he took it as a friendly joke and nothing else. He then extended his paw to her and said, "You have an unusual sense of humor."

Kisu dropped her book, gave an irritated sigh, looked up at the Lucario and said, "Look, are you going to sign in or get all friendly on me?"

"Sorry Kisu… if you're going to sign me in, you can call me--"

"Don't call me that, just call me Miss… alright?"

"Sorry… Miss." The Lucario's extended paw retreated and rested at his back near his tail, "Miss… hmm… so I take it you're not married?" he didn't realize that was probably not the right thing to say at a first impression. He apparently just made a big mistake.

Kisu picked up her book, her head faced downwind, and she said, "You've got to be kidding… hitting on a girl at 4 in the morning." She suddenly felt as if she was about to faint.

"No Miss, I was just asking a simple question, honest!" the Lucario tried his best to defend himself, but Kisu didn't believe any word of it. Now she was honestly afraid if this guy was a pervert or something, he didn't even look like he was in her age-range.

"Just give me your name and no funny business…" she gave him a sign-in sheet which had only 7 names on it, the Lucario checked to see if there were any more names… but that was it, only 7.

"You've only had 7 other customers?" he was still fiddling around with the paper.

"Stop asking me personal questions and just give me your name." she switched aside, "So I can report you to the police just as soon as you get on my last nerve…"

He did what he was told like a good Lucario, he gave her his name, which was "Lancer Nassumek", or at least that's what it said on his ID.

"Nassumek?" honestly, now she was really suspicious. First the creepy behavior now this last name? It sounded like he just made it up on the spot but that was the last name he used to create his Lilycove ID. Something was wrong here but she needed the money, she couldn't deny a customer, she just couldn't afford it. Then… she felt it again, that urge to just drop down and pass out.

"Yup: Nassumek."

"Oka-a-ay…" she punched him in with a little smiley face near his name, "You… DO have money with you, right?"

Lancer looked at the sign behind her stating that one room for one person was fifty-dollars, "The fee is $50?"

"That's what it says." She began reading her book again, just half-consciously reading and half-consciously speaking to Lancer. He made his first impression on her, but Lancer sees that she has more of the "Hard-to-get" personality even if he really wasn't trying to get her. But if he told her something that pretty much assured he wasn't trying to flirt with her, which he wasn't, she'd take that the wrong way as well.

"Then I have enough money." He gave a proud, innocent face, even with that distracting sword on his belt; he still looked like an innocent bystander. Maybe Kisu was wrong about him? But what in the world would he be doing with that sword anyways?

"Congratulations." She replied, "So you have enough money for a room, whoop-de-doo."

"Did… I offend you in some way?"

"Well, now I have one more mouth to feed."

Lancer looked puzzled, "Don't you have any staff… anybody to help?"

"Nope, why do you think people try avoiding this place?" Kisu flipped through a page, "Try being observant."

There was an awkward moment of silence until Lancer broke it, "You mean you were sitting here all day and all night?"

"Congrats, Sherlock." She showed him the rings under her eyes, "How'd you ever figure that one out?" her vision started to blur; the exhaustion was really starting to get to her.

"Why don't you get some rest?" Lancer tried to push her into getting up from her seat and leaving, but she pushed him away as if he was assaulting her.

Her chair slid across the carpet and she almost screamed, "What? You want me to go to sleep so you can have your ways on me?!"

"Please Miss; don't you think you're being a little judgmental?"

"Maybe I a--" suddenly she dropped on the floor in exhaustion. She must have been awake for quite some time now; Lancer understood why she just gave out like that but in the middle of a sentence? That was sort of unusual. He picked her up and took the elevator to the only other floor in the building: The second floor.

**

"There's a new citizen in Lilycove city… that's why you woke me up?!" In a mansion within Lilycove, looked upon as the home of the man enforced to protect the citizens of this city, almost everybody could hear the roar of General Cyrus Brown, human. He was fast asleep when he got this call; most of his body was still covered in a red blanket in his comfortable home.

"Sorry General, since you are mostly in charge for the well-fare of Lilycove, I thought you should know… apparently." A young woman replied from the other line of the telephone, the sounds of typing almost interfered with the volume of her voice.

"Is there anything unique about him or her?" Cyrus took a glass of water that he had left on his night stand before he went to sleep and chugged the rest of it down, wiping his mouth off with his blanket afterwards.

"There is one thing we got, it was a male Lucario whose eyes were blue instead of red, it's… pretty unusual." There was still that annoying constant tapping noise in the background, the noise of person fond of a keyboard, "Should we keep our eyes on him?"

Cyrus sustained a frightened face when he realized it was a Lucario, "Yes, watch his every move…" the General cracked his neck, "Ever since I realized that there are surviving Riocynn Lucarios… I can't trust any Lucario."

"Should we keep him in sniper range just incase things get suspicious?"

"Yes, observe his every move but don't completely throw off your guard to the other Lucarios in the city," Cyrus was trying to resist on calling forth the one thing that kept popping up in his head, "Leave none unwatched…"

"Shouldn't we be splitting attention to all Pokemon and humans equally?" the woman continued typing at that god-like speed, how much it interfered with her voice was just ridiculous.

Cyrus sighed, scratched his brown beard, the said, "You have no idea how scary it is to think there is a Riocynn Lucario in the city you were enforced to protect," he shivered at the thought of it, "They're all blood-thirsty monsters…"

"Consider it done."

News to strengthen security against Lucarios was once again enforced. Lucarios in Lilycove city were oppressed by every other race. They were thought of as dangerous after the whole Riocynn incident, mostly because the entire clan was killed only a mile away from that area.

By morning, this order had been fully executed and 2 Lucarios were arrested in Night Clubs between the hours of 5:00am and 6:00am.

**

Waking up to the smell of pancakes, Kisu jumped out of her bed just to realize that it was the room she had appointed Lancer in. Did she fall asleep before even waiting for him to get to his room? She looked around, nobody was there… she tried to feel for bruises or anything… nope… she felt fine. Kisu let out a sigh of relief and thought, "Maybe I was a bit judgmental." Then… she realized what she was saying, "What a second, I can't get all mushy just because he helped me to this room… I still have to keep a close eye on him!"

Finally… the completely obvious caught her eye. She was tucked in to bed? That sort of made her feel uncomfortable… then there was the fact that this room was completely organized. All of the towels were folded and the place was actually dusted off. She walked into the bathroom to wash her face to see that the mirror was 100% clean as well, not a spot anywhere. The shower was cleaned as well, even the toilets with a new roll of toilet paper. The lotion bottles were even organized from largest to smallest.

Was this like… his way of flirting with her? It was unusual, but it was refreshing at the same time. This place had never been so tidy, well, this room at least. Then… as she looked in the mirror one more time… her face flooded with the look of horror. She was in her pajamas… Lancer actually changed her too. She almost screamed, but found a note next to the light switch.

"Don't worry, it wasn't me who changed you… those two nice little kids, the Eevee and the Leafeon, they changed you because last night they told me their mom normally made them do that for her as well.

-Lancer"

As she put the note down, the smell of pancakes finally grabbed her attention, "Wait a second…" she thought, "Who's cooking pancakes?!" she was the only person in charge of the Inn, therefore, she was the only person who cooked… or at least who knew how to cook. Plus, to have pancakes on Friday was illegal.

She ran in the kitchen to see one little female Eevee one little male Leafeon cooking.

They turned to her with those bright, innocent faces and squealed, "Good morning Ms. Narraley!" afterwards, they resumed cooking as if it wasn't unusual at all. Those were kids of a female Glaceon living here, but she never taught them how to cook anything, how come they were suddenly able to do this?

Speak of the devil; Lancer stepping in the room with some flour answered that question, "Oh, hello Miss." He said, giving a motion for her to move away from the doorway as he passed through. His blue cloak was a bit white from having some flour spilled on him and the sheath that covered his sword tapped her on the leg as he turned.

"D-Did you teach those kids to cook pancakes?" Kisu asked, pointing at the Eevee and Leafeon, feeling her blood pressure rise. There was an 11-inch TV on the counter next to the sink transmitting a propaganda message about how "great" the Karysan Empire was.

"Why yes I did actually. I figured since you have no help, I could teach these two bright little kids to cook for you just incase I have to go somewhere, you know?" Lancer dropped the flour on the counter, "If you want I can teach them how to cook lunch and dinner, they aren't that young to start learning you know."

"Are you some kind of idiot?!"

"What, too much flour?" Lancer asked, giggling a little bit.

"No, I mean teaching them to cook, they're so young… and the fact that it's Friday!" Kisu picked them both up and set them down away from the oven.

"What's so special about Friday?"

"It's bacon and eggs day… everybody is required to have bacon and eggs for breakfast!" she took a dramatic pause, turned around with her shoulders twitched, then shifted back and blurted out, "I could get arrested!!" she stomped on the wooden floor of the kitchen, "Also… I don't have much money to maintain this place… if someone walks in here and sees two kids cooking… I'm done!"

"Then… do you want me to cook bacon and eggs without the kids?" Lancer asked, leaning against the counter near the flour.

"Hmm… Nashi, Kerrece, go back to your rooms please…" Kisu sweetly ordered the two children, they obeyed and left… then she yelled, "What is wrong with you?!"

"Nothing, I'm just trying to be a helping hand, go ahead… taste one of these pancakes I let them make."

"So you forced them, huh?" Kisu asked as she took 4 long steps to an individual pancake wrapped up in a paper towel.

"I guess I probably worded that out wrong, huh?"

"Just like the 'So I guess this means you're not married' crap…"

"That was completely my bad…" Lancer let out a low chuckle, taking everything Kisu was saying as a mere joke.

Kisu unraveled the pancake, picked it up, and sniffed it just incase because something seemed a little fishy here. But, to her surprise, it felt… perfect. It smelled great, it was a completely unmatched, something was wrong here. Every time she made a pancake, it was never this round. Kisu took a bite… and it felt like her taste buds were in heaven, but in defense for her self-respect she spit it out as if it was awful, "What is this?!" she asked.

"It's… a pancake, of course? Why? Is it bad?"

"N-Yea… N… Dang it…"

"What?" Lancer was worried that he didn't do this properly, even if he followed the recipe to the last letter.

"Fine… it's good… but I thought men weren't supposed to be good at cooking!"

Lancer unnecessarily fell over, sighed and laughed, "You had me scared there…"

"Yeah, you had me scared the moment you walked in here." Kisu thought. She was mad at the fact that he was doing better than her in maintaining rooms AND cooking… what was this guy's deal? There was no way he was doing all of this just to be a nice guy, either he was just flirting with her or he was doing it for a reward.

A dark thought clouded her mind, "What if he was sent by the Government to find out how I'm taking care of this place?!" she gave a suspicious groan, then left, "Continue… oh yeah, and if you don't mind, you can make lunch and dinner if you're so good at cooking, hotshot!!" she took out a list, "Friday has bacon and eggs for breakfast, grilled cheese for lunch, and macaroni and cheese for dinner!"

"If that's what you want… fine, sure."

"Damn it… can't even get a negative reaction out of him. Why's this guy always happy anyways? It's… weird. Hmm…" she walked back in the kitchen, picked up the pancake and, without even thinking about it first, she threw it at Lancer like it was a Frisbee, thinking, "Think fast, Karysan Agent!" she knew if he was actually able to dodge or slice something that fast and that close… he must be trained for something, then she'd actually have a clue to work with.

Lancer's eyes locked on the pancake flying towards him, everything was in slow motion, he could see it coming but he knew that something wasn't right here. Was she testing him or something? It took him a split second to decide… he just sat there and waited for it. That plan got flushed down the toilet as soon as that buttery pancake slapped him in the face; Lancer gave out a silly groan and fell to the ground, his sword clattering against the tile flooring of the kitchen. It was all intentional.

"Oh…" Kisu muttered, "My hand slipped so it wasn't my fault, hmph." She left without another word, trying to conceal her blush of embarrassment.

As she vanished from view, Lancer shook his head, and then tapped the pancake… it disintegrated in a flame of Aura instantly. He then stood up and continued cooking with an ominous looking face for an instant… then he thought, "What a weird girl… maybe this stress is getting to her… or maybe she suspects something…?" he could only think of the worse… did she figure out who he was?

**

Later on, after Lancer had cooked up bacon and eggs for every single Pokemon living in the Inn, he washed the dishes and began to do chores wherever he found things wrong. Kisu watched him perform every chore with a suspicious frown on her face, trying to be as sneaky as possible even if that wasn't her style… then, as Lancer was folding up the clothes, Nashi, the little Eevee, asked loudly, "Why are you spying on Lancer?"

Chills went down Kisu's spine as she forced Nashi away, whispering, "Shoo, shoo!" then, as she turned back around, Lancer was staring back at her. Kisu's head went downwind and she made up an excuse, "I… just lost my ring," then she bent down and pretended like she was picking something up, "Whoops, found it, hehehe."

"Miss, if you really don't trust me, why don't you ask me to leave?" Lancer asked with a warm smile on his face… as always, "I wouldn't want to be a cause of suspicion."

"You can stay… you're still paying me $50 a night."

"Ah, money is it? Okay then, I'll pay you and I'll make sure your Inn is in shape before I leave, okay?"

"But wait, why are you doing this anyways?"

"Well… honestly this place is a mess and I wanted to help you out a little."

Kisu growled when he said "This place is a mess."

"What? Did I say something wrong again?"

Kisu rushed over to him and yelled, "Listen you, blue-eyed Lucario, I don't need your opinion on how I run things here!" she then turned around and walked towards the doorway, but before she actually left, she said, "Oh yeah, and could you fold the sheets in a triangular fashion? 'Kay thanks!"

Lancer gave a low snicker, "What an attitude she has."

He did almost everything for her, maintaining the Inn, washing, dusting, he even made friends with the crippled Glaceon mother of those two little Eons, Kayaji. She could barely walk and today, apparently, she wasn't feeling up to it. Lancer also made quick friends with the two little Eons Kerrece and Nashi, who helped him with a few of his tasks like disciplined little kids. The other 4 Pokemon staying at the Inn, however, Lancer did not get to know.

**

Soon afterwards, maybe around 2:00pm, the showers weren't working anymore. Lancer, who has not slept since the previous night, had instantly begun working on it but this was the final straw for some of the guests living here. Kisu got some… unexpected news from them. 4 of them, all from separate families: a female Swampert, a female Noctowl, a male Grumpig, and a male Ludicolo, declared they were going to stay at a different Inn. They tried to make it seem like they were not leaving because the service was bad… more because they "Just wanted to move on and try different places".

Kisu begged them not to leave, she even said that she had a new helper… referring to Lancer who hadn't really agreed to that in the first place, but they all left anyways. Even to the front door she begged then, then… as they walked away, she fell to her knees and wept knowing that there were only 3 more people, Nashi the Eevee girl, and Kerrece the Leafeon boy, then their mother, Kayaji: Who had been asleep all day which led to Lancer having to give her breakfast in bed. Well, Kisu almost forgot about Lancer, but if that one family decided to leave… only Lancer would be left.

She knew that if this kept up… she would run out of business and be forced to live on the streets, this job was all she had and she wasn't qualified for any other job due to pure racism. Most people thought just because of the fact that she was a Gardevoir meant she was only good for posing in magazines or something, but that's not what she wanted to do. Kisu had real potential but nobody would bother to even test it.

Up upon a building overlooking the Inn, a sniper, human of course, stood in dark leather gear complete with a leather hood. He watched Kisu cry down below and said, "This must be the place, Kairet Inn… and a weeping Gardevoir? Bleh…" He was assigned to watch Lancer with great care just incase he was what they were looking for, "Doesn't look like a place a supposed blood-thirsty monster would live," he licked his lips, "…Odd."

Kisu stomped towards the entrance in a furious fashion, tears still flying out of her eyes. Lancer stood there near a support hold, a pillar, he tried to comfort her but she ended up pushing him out of the way.

"That must be him…" the sniper said, getting a full visual on Lancer, but suddenly… he was spotted. Lancer had spotted him, he looked up at the roof of the building the sniper stood upon with deadly eyes, but… he was only able to get a one second glimpse of the sniper before he vanished from sight. Even in the night's sky Lancer was able to spot him… "Interesting," the sniper muttered, "What a sense of security this Lucario has…" he left the area and chose a new area to spy on Lancer… just waiting until something interesting were to happen.

**

Lancer walked back into the lobby of the Inn with another propaganda video playing on the TV overhead.

"What happened? Why did they suddenly leave?" Lancer asked Kisu who had her head buried between her arms on her receptionist desk. She wasn't crying, she was just frustrated out of her mind.

"They thought it was too expensive for a dump like this with all of the problems it's been having…" she paused, "I think they're right."

Lancer felt horrible, this place wasn't all that bad, in fact, he rather preferred the nice, comfy feel to it. Too many people residing in one place was just distracting for him, "This place isn't bad at all." He responded.

"Then how come every customer I've ever had left, huh?"

"Could it be because you're the only employee in this entire Inn?" Lancer replied quickly, tapping his sheathed sword several times before sitting down, legs criss-crossed, on the comfortable carpet. He looked up to her on that desk as if she was lecturing him.

"Nobody else is willing to help me and… if I don't have at least 2 people residing here…" Kisu banged her arm against the desk, "I'll be out on the streets without a job!" she tried her hardest not to cry in front of Lancer, she didn't want to show him that she was weak inside… she never wanted to show anyone she was like that.

"Right… so I'm guessing the Totalitarianism is responsible for that?"

"Some officials think that I'm better off quitting this business."

"Wait a second… Totalitarianism…" Lancer thought, "Why didn't the Government take this job away from you if they don't want you working here?" he asked as he rubbed his snout.

"I begged them to give me a chance and… they said if I have at least 2 people staying here…" she, once again, paused, "I can keep my job."

"Anything I can do to help?"

"Ah, just quit with that act. It's not fooling me, either you're just flirting with me or you want something."

"Sorry Miss, but I really am not. I'm just trying to be friendly to the kind person who decided to take me in and let me stay here."

"I didn't let you stay here; you paid a service, so could you quit that act already?" Kisu coldly said, "If only more people thought… that this place was at least somewhat desirable… I might never go out of business."

Once she said that, Lancer got an idea, a brilliant idea. He had nothing important to do, why not help Kisu regain her business? He was up to any challenge especially if it involved no violence… but something told him that these few hours of peace he has sustained in the Kairet Inn will be the final hours of peace he will know as long as he stays in the Hoenn Region.


	2. The Supposed Thief

During the brightness of day, nobody would have expected that a burglary was taking place. Around 2:45pm, a female Weavile had climbed the side of a middle-class urban house, broke through the window on the second floor, and had stolen a red envelope. The owner of the house, human, had seen the Weavile jump out of the window before he could get more that a half-second glimpse.

This man who was robbed was a business man, a very wealthy business man but in some ways… he was corrupted by the smell and touch of money. He just could not get enough of it and this theft of that red envelope angered him to the point where he hired a gang of thugs to get it back. He told them it was very important to his financial future and that he would pay a gratuitous amount of money to whoever was able to bring it back to him. That was the motivation.

His name was Conway Kedetys, a man who's only love was that green paper known as money.

**

Lancer crept through the Kairet Inn, a grim look on his face. He had left his sword back in his assigned room to keep himself as stealthy as possible… then… a figure jumped on him, forcing him to the ground… it was a game. Lancer gave a playful laugh; there wasn't anything serious going on. He, along with Kerrece the boy Leafeon and Nashi the girl Eevee, with Nashi the one responsible for tackling him, were merely playing a game of hide-and-seek as Kisu was busy in her quarters. Lancer had given her an advertisement plan but first she was obligated to get a permit to start putting up posters all over the city.

The only reason she didn't think of something like that was because she was pretty new to managing her own business, at first she thought the only good form of advertising were commercials…but posters were almost the same thing and they were much cheaper.

Suddenly, out of the closet right behind Lancer, Kerrece jumped out as well with a playful roar, "We caught you Lancer, we caught you!" they simultaneously said, laughing afterwards.

"Yeah, you guys definitely did." Lancer replied.

Next… after just a few minutes of play, Lancer asked those two little Eons if they wanted to help him with taking care of the Inn while Kisu was in her quarters. First off was washing dishes from the lunch they had previously, Friday lunch: Mandatory grilled cheese sandwiches.

To play a little joke on Lancer, Kerrece took a bubble wand, dipped it in the soap, and blew a horde of bubbles at him. Even if he saw the bubbles coming, Lancer decided to make the joke much more amusing for the kids. He turned around just to have a few bubbles pop in his eyes then he let out a hysterical yell and fell on the ground.

"We got you again Lancer, we got you again!" Kerrece and Nashi, once again, simultaneously pointed out as they dog-piled on him once more, all of them letting out laughs.

After getting that done, Lancer walked back into the washroom and took out the newly dried clothes, he began folding them just as Kisu said: Triangular. This led to Kerrece and Nashi to play another prank on him… they got a wet purple towel and threw it towards him. Once again Lancer saw this coming, but he didn't want to be the party pooper and grab it… so he just let it slap him in the face which, once again, led to the little ones jumping on him and saying "We got you again!"

By that time, Kisu was already out of her quarters just to see a sopping wet purple towel cover the upper half of Lancer's body.

"I'm not even going to ask." Kisu muttered as she kneeled down to Lancer's level and gave him a paper with an address on it, "Lancer, if you're really into helping me… go downtown and get this permit so we can start putting up advertisement posters."

Lancer took the wet towel off and took the paper.

"But Mrs. Narraley!" Nashi interrupted, hopping up and down on, "Can't you go so we can play with Lancer a little bit more?"

Kisu tried to sustain the annoyance building up inside of her, her head went downwind, the area around her eyes darkened, and a small vein popped out of her forehead, "I see how it is…" she thought, then gave a sweet, motherly face, "I just can't trust you guys and Lancer by yourselves… sorry!" then she picked Lancer up by grabbing his paws, forced the kids off of him, then shoved him towards the elevator that led to the lobby, "Time for you to go Lucario-boy!"

"…but, Miss, what if I'm not able to find out where this place is?" he rubbed the back of his head as he held on to the paper she gave him, "I am new to this city after-all."

"Oh I'm sure you'll be fine!" Kisu grabbed him by the ears; he gave out silly groans as she dragged him towards the elevator door, "I'm sure you'll get there eventually!" Kisu pressed the Lobby button, the door slid open, and she shoved Lancer inside.

"Aw… he's really fun." Nashi groaned.

"Yeah, you should have gone!" Kerrece pointed out.

A few moments later, just as Lancer left the Inn without his sword… just as he promised… a female Weavile ran passed him, panting and sweating as she yelled "Get out of my way!" when she pushed him aside. There was no force in that push, Lancer did not even have to step back, but he did to avoid the Weavile anyways. There was a black, leather belt around her waste and above her red, feather-like tail. Strapped to that belt was a red envelope.

"Hey, get your ass back here!" a man shouted, him and 15 other men, all humans, charged towards her with the Weavile gaining the upper speed in this chase. They all raised their fists and shook them as they ran like old men trying to get kids off of their lawns.

Lancer had a pondering look on his face just trying to find out exactly why all of those men were chasing that Weavile. There was a strong possibility that it had something to do with that red envelope she had with her… but then he thought that he probably shouldn't get involved. She was probably a criminal; he didn't have to help catch criminals either way… that was a job for the authorities.

Even so… what was so important about that envelope?

**

Straight from the security initiation Lancer was forced to go through before he entered Lilycove: A few pictures of him facing the camera, facing the left, then facing the right were sent to Cyrus Brown, the General appointed by Vaxrilla Aika to ensure the safety of the city. Lancer gave out smiles for each and every picture, plus, all of the smiles looked exactly the same like they were all taken at the same time… which they weren't.

Cyrus observed these photos with that same question popping up in his mind every few seconds: "Why in the world are his eyes blue?" there was a secret way to figure out if a Lucario had the Riocynn blood within him or her… and that secret was their eyes. Every Riocynn Lucario ever recorded had green eyes, not blue.

"He must be hiding his eye color somehow…" he said to himself, his fingers running themselves down his crooked nose. The chaos of his office distracted him, he was surrounded by security officials all observing city occurrences through small cameras that were placed all over the streets and even within homes. A few women had walked up and left piles of paper on Cyrus' desk but he was never able to get to them… he was too frightened about this "Lancer Nassumek". Something about that last name just made it seem like it was made up on the spot but didn't know what to expect out there.

He did not try to arrest Lancer for suspecting him to be a Riocynn for two reasons: One, it will cause a massive scare among the citizens if they knew that a Riocynn was able to get into the city. Two, all residential Lucarios would revolt to this unfair arrest… this may be the hammer to just pound away at the wall that stopped the Lucarios from revolting by now. Ever since the Riocynn incident, no Lucario has been treated the same as any other Pokemon.

All of this time, Cyrus had a plan for rooting out murderous Lucarios and/or Riocynns. By letting Lancer, like many other adventurer Lucarios, walk into the city with their weapons at their sides… it could lead them to cause violent behavior which may bring out the supposed Riocynn within them. But, before they would even be able to unsheathe that weapon of theirs… they would be sniped by one of the hundreds of snipers assigned to watch each and every one of the Lucario's moves discretely.

"Volke Buchannan," Cyrus called on his headpiece, contacting the sniper assigned to watch Lancer's every move, "Status report."

"My target is heading somewhere… I don't know exactly where but he had a paper in his paws," the sniper reported, a bit of static interrupting his voice, "Plus he isn't taking that sword with him so he probably doesn't mean any harm, over."

"Well keep observing his actions, could you see what he was doing in the Kairet Inn?" Cyrus asked.

"I could only see from in the lobby, but it doesn't seem like he caused any problems, over."

"Carry on… report to me if you see anything suspicious." Cyrus sighed then continued to himself, "I have a gut feeling that this… Lancer Nassumek… is a Riocynn. Just that look in his eyes behind all of that happiness… he had to be a Riocynn." He paused, "If this keeps up, I may have to actually revert to rooting him out some… other way."

**

After receiving the permit, Lancer and Kisu both began posting up advertisements all around the city. They were posters with vertically taken pictures of the exterior of the Kairet Inn along with the benefits you will get for staying there. Of course, Vaxrilla Aika had given the citizens of Hoenn complete freedom with advertising for their businesses but first they were required to obtain a permit; she believes that not all commercials really have to be some kind of propaganda.

Lancer and Kisu went with the simpler way of advertising: Posters all over the place. They had been out since 3:32pm and now it was 4:23pm. The city was enormous, so many sights to see and Lancer just couldn't help but observe everything… of course while putting up those posters on random walls of markets or alleyways.

People, Pokemon or human, would stare at Lancer as he walked by. They were just wondering why in the world he had blue eyes, it was so unnatural. Even the mothers who told their children "You shouldn't stare at other people" were gazing at Lancer as he walked by them, minding his own business.

"Doesn't it bother you that everybody is staring?" Kisu asked, struggling with half of the pile of posters while Lancer held the other half.

Before he responded, he took her half and carried both of the loads himself, the pile of paper nearly reached his snout, "Not at all Miss, I do believe it is not every day you see a blue-eyed Lucario, am I right?"

"Yeah but…" Kisu trailed off, remembering when she first saw him. His blue eyes were the first thing that caught her mind… then there was his sword. Cyrus had been letting travelling Lucarios in with swords for quite a while now, but the Government never chose to inform them of why. She put her hands behind her back, "Yup, people aren't used to freaks."

Lancer chuckled, "If that is how you view me, okay then, I'm a freak." He laughed again, causing Kisu to stop in her tracks just thinking about why he never let insults get to him. It was like his emotions had a barrier around them that blocked off all taunts or insults and kept the happiness inside. There was no way he was like the other Lucarios she hears about… the ones that murder just for fun. Lancer looked like an innocent one, but even with all of that she still did not trust him just yet. She kept believing he was doing all of this for his own personal gain… but what did he have to gain by helping her?

They had left Kayaji the mother Glaceon and her children back at the Inn, knowing that she was awake and able enough to take care of them even in her physical state.

So many sights to see, so little time. The last time Lancer had set foot in Lilycove city was back in the Anti-Pokemon Revolution, 21 years ago. This city was so much different back then… just a city in chaos throughout the racial tension involving humans and Pokemon. Though, this place was much kinder, happier, and peaceful than the last time he came. What kind of man he was back then… blocked out by his own mind, he tried so hard to forget… then he realized the dark thoughts among him and decided to make conversation, "Tell me again why you need more than 2 families living at your Inn."

"The Government believes the Kairet Inn is just a waste of space and they wanted to demolish it," her eyes became fixated on a sapphire displayed in a jewelry store for a short amount of time, "I had to beg them and they gave me a deal… and now… here I am."

"This job is all you have, isn't it Miss?" Lancer adjusted his walking speed with all of those papers to catch up with Kisu, "They won't let you be anything else?"

"They don't think I can be anything else," Kisu concealed her anger but ended up taking out on Lancer again, "But at least I'll never be as hopeless as you!" she pouted and drew her eyes away from Lancer, wondering if this may be his first negative response.

"In this city, that may be, but I wouldn't worry about that for now as long as I live with you now," he grunted as he readjusted his stance to carry all of those papers, and then gave a big smile, "Right?" Kisu did not answer, it was true he wasn't like all of the other Lucarios, in fact, he wasn't like any man she had ever seen. It was so weird to know that as many times as she insulted him, from earlier to right now, he still doesn't give anything but a smile and a positive reaction.

"Bleh…"

"I can't let Ms. Narraley be thrown on the streets without a job to support herself," he began to lag behind Kisu, "After she let me into her Inn with my sword and everything."

"Pick up the pace, Lancer!" Kisu ordered, purposely walking faster even if she knew he was having a hard time carrying all of this excess weight.

"She's even meaner than some of the humans during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution, ah-h-h…"

Kisu chose the next destination to start putting up more advertisement posters. It was an alleyway between a bar and a small market, "Just 2 posters." She said as she reached into Lancer's cloak and pulled out the glue which she gave him before they left. Lancer set the papers down and took a breather just to have Kisu up in his face 10 seconds in, "Stop slaking around, come on and put up one right here… and one over there." She pointed to the end of the alleyway… it was unusually dark for this time of day.

"…And bossier than some of the commanders in the Revolution… eh-h-h…" he thought, "Yes, Miss." Lancer obediently replied, posting up the first poster then moving on to the ordered destination.

"It's funny… he acts like he's a slave or something." Kisu thought, "Oh well, that's what he gets for being so generous, now it's time for me to start abusing his kindness… hehe."

This part of the alleyway was the intersection between 4 buildings, the bar, the market, a tailor, and a gourmet store. Upon reaching this intersection with one poster in his grasp, Lancer witnessed a female Weavile in the middle of a one-sided fight against 15 other guys, all humans. She was curled up into a defensive position on the ground as all of the men kicked and punched her. That was the same Weavile Lancer ran across when he stepped out of the Kairet Inn, the Weavile with that belt and the red envelope.

Kisu was out of visual reach to see or hear this happening.

All of the security cameras in this alleyway were turned away from the fight… it was like that was done intentionally.

He could smell it… Lancer could smell that sickly stench… it was the smell of blood, that awful smell that he hasn't come across since the Anti-Pokemon Revolution. He had an instant flashback from this horrid image before him; back during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution… this was how humans would gang up on Pokemon, just mindlessly beating them for no reason what-so-ever. It was just out of pure racism, everybody wanted Pokemon out of their cities after a certain scare from a previous war which tore the Sinnoh Region apart.

Since his arrival at Lilycove city, just a few hours ago, Lancer has not experienced even the slightest bit of anger. Even against Kisu and her taunting ways, he still did not have any anger against her. Being one of the survivors of the Anti-Pokemon Revolution caused him to have a certain anger against humans… and now… seeing these humans gang up on this Weavile just as humans did back then caused him to interfere, "Stop that!!" he let out a long roar as he dropped the poster, letting the wind carry it away.

Everybody instantly ceased and turned to see the Lucario with blue eyes and a blue cloak, "What do we have here?" one man asked, taking one last kick at the downed Weavile, listening to her let out a final moan of pain.

"A Lucario who says you should leave this Weavile alone." Lancer replied, "I would much rather go to sweet and innocent agreement if you don't mind. I don't want to fight even if you ganged up on this Pokemon."

"That's 'cause you know you're outnumbered, Lucario!" 3 men stepped up to Lancer, all cracking their knuckles with intentions of mindless violence.

"I'm just here putting up advertisement posters; I don't want this to have to turn into something… ugly." His anger starting rising up from wherever he concealed it, his normally peaceful ways were drowning out in his instincts, but then… just before he lost it… he got a hold of himself, "Just let him go and I will leave you alone."

"I've had enough of this guy thinking he can take us all on at once, you're outnumbered!" one of them yelled out, "But lookie here, we'll go easy on you, 3 on 1, hehe…"

"Fine…" Lancer took a defensive stance knowing he wasn't going to get out of this one with peaceful talk. How could this have turned from helping Kisu to saving a fellow Pokemon? Lancer was starting to realize just how corrupt this city was and just how much crime was truly occurring right under his nose, "If you want to be like that… fine."

3 men charged at once, fists up in the air, large smiles on their faces. They gave out their own battle cries. Then, the second before each of them landed their individual punches to their opponent… Lancer's stance changed right before their eyes, no movement at all. They all stopped in their tracks.

"Hey, what's wrong with you guys?!" one of the humans called out as the 3 offensive men stood there, trying to breath with their eyes percolating. Blood began to slip out of their mouths and fall to the ground, each drop of blood fell right at the same time… then they… as the blood… all fell at the same time, "What...?" all of the other men whispered in confusion, "Wha… what the hell did you do to them?!"

"Aishakiri-Variety: Nai-Karu-Mesian." Lancer whispered then looked up at the rest of the men who began cowering in fear. Again, at the blink of an eye, Lancer reverted back to his old self and gave a warm smile, "I recommend you guys get out of here and I will get that Weavile some medical help… good day."

By the time Lancer was done speaking, every single human had retreated from the area… they just took the 3 injured ones and ran for their lives… everyone except for just one. This one, however, was armed with a knife. He pulled it out of his pocket, it was concealed with a small face towel, "I don't care what you did to them, but I'm not a coward like they are!" he armed himself but gasped when he heard the beaten Weavile grunt as she rose from the ground, but before she had a chance to stand up straight… her legs gave out and she was on the ground once more.

Ignoring the Weavile, the man charged Lancer while gripping his knife tightly; he yelled "Die Lucario!" and thrust the knife forward… but then… something unexpected happened.

Lancer had vanished and reappeared next to the arm which thrust the knife forward… that is when Lancer grabbed the man's arm and squeezed it to the point where his fist unclenched and let the knife fall to the ground.

Demoralized, the man began to whimper, his rage suddenly turned to fear.

"I'm willing to unclench my hand if you promise to get out of here." Lancer nudged, no smile or frown on his face… just blank… the blank stare of somebody who's hands have been stained with the blood of both humans and Pokemon… the blank stare only a warrior could achieve.

"Please don't kill me!"

"Will you get out of here?"

"Yes, yes, I'll go, just let me live!" as soon as Lancer let the man go, he high-tailed it out of there but something caught Lancer's eye… that red envelope he saw the Weavile with earlier was in his pocket. If he already got the envelope back… why were they beating the Weavile up?

On the roof above was Volke Buchannan, but he got there too late to see Lancer make those men run away in fear. He only got there in time to see Lancer carry away the female Weavile, "Is that a homeless Weavile or…?" Volke asked himself, trailing off, "I wonder what I missed…"

The men who were forced to retreat would never forget the day they had that encounter with Lancer. How he was able to drive them off so easily with his skill and with that look in his eyes demoralized and degraded them… but they figured that they got off easy if he only decided to take that envelope-less Weavile with him instead of their lives. They knew he must have been some kind of warrior… but the truth was… none of them wanted to stick around and find out what he was really like if he decided to get murderous.

Something told them that they got off lucky.


	3. The Kerayls Farm

Near Route 121 in a Chesto berry farm: The Keralys Farm, a robbery was being held. The farm was originally owned by Pokemon, 2 Absols one a man one a woman. Several humans drove up and parked their black vehicle on the roadside, all of them in black businessmen suits with red ties. Keeping their identities secret, they all wore ski masks that only showed their eyes and their mouths. There were 5 total, 4 with pistols and one with an assault rifle. Calmly they knocked on the owner's house and once the Pokemon answered… they were taken down.

No, they were not killed; the men forced them to the ground and tied them up. There was a rumor going around that this farm had some sort of treasure hidden and they needed to keep the Absols alive to be able to find it quickly and efficiently… without much hard work. They, themselves, were not up to this task, but the man Conway Kedetys hired them for the job.

The Absols proclaimed they didn't know where the treasure was… but the man with the assault rifle… the leader of the group… did not believe them and declared that those Absols will not be freed until they revealed the "Treasure's" location.

That was 2 days ago.

**

The Weavile that Lancer had rescued previously still had not woken up by the end of the day and she even slept throughout the next. It was now 10:23 at night around 2 days after the incident and Kisu was just about prepared to start getting Kerrece and Nashi to bed but they tried to fight back because they wanted to stay up and play with Lancer for a little while longer. That is… until Lancer had to peacefully order them to go on off to bed because they needed their rest. Of course they listened to Lancer and for this, Kisu was a jealous.

It started raining earlier and now it worried Kisu, will the posters still be readable? Lancer had to reassure her and told her to just wait for the next day… he made it seem like everything was going to be alright but he too felt kind of unsure about it.

The Weavile was treated from her open wounds and had sacks of ice strapped on to every bruise on her body which counted up to 11.

All was quiet as Kisu sat at her desk in the lobby waiting for somebody to walk inside to ask for a room. Lancer sat on the only couch in the lobby which was left from the main entrance next to an indoor Chamaedorea Palm Tree. This plant emitted a pleasurable aroma that caused this peaceful environment to suit Lancer's interests. He lay on the red couch and watched the wall-mounted TV, automatically on a channel that had only Propaganda messages.

It was amusing, Vaxrilla Aika, the Dictator of the Hoenn Region, made it seem like she was a god among men with these messages. There was one were Lancer was certain that it was a political joke where Aika pushed an entire dam into place to stop the intense river flow near Fortree city. It ended with the message "Vaxrilla Aika: Our Dictator - The Dictator"… but something about that message made it seem like they were actually trying to portray that Mismagius as the best Dictator in the world and that she was some sort of super hero.

It was until these messages started to all be re-runs Lancer decided to ask Kisu to change it, "There is only 1 TV channel you know, all propaganda," she stacked a load of papers on top of one-another then slammed them on her desk, "Get used to it." She then put on reading glasses and got to work on those papers, she was paying her bills.

Lancer stared at her for a while with the propaganda playing in the background, was it this stress that was causing her to act so violently? Whatever it was, Lancer knew there was a sweet girl within her, but living in a Region that oppresses Pokemon just because of what they are could stress one out. All this time Lancer knew that he was being watched by a sniper, it just never dawned on him that it was because he was a Lucario overall… he thought that Lilycove was just a secure place.

He had watched that sniper follow him for quite a while now, but the first time he noticed him was after those 3 guests staying at this Inn left. There were a plethora of other Lucarios wandering the streets and Lancer could see snipers following each one of them no matter how discreet they were being. The rooftops were outlawed because of this as stated on so many signs on the streets, "Unauthorized Personnel on rooftops will not be tolerated".

Then there was Kisu, she was a Gardevoir and no matter how Lancer looked at it, he would have believed that most Gardevoirs were used as eye-candy for men… it was a sad truth and Lancer sometimes hated himself for being so judgmental, but now that he has met Kisu and actually saw a Gardevoir trying to make a living on something that doesn't require her showing off private parts of her body… his view changed.

"I'm heading out." Lancer proclaimed as he stood up from the couch and stretched out his arms while giving out a low yawn.

Kisu's eyes widened and she almost dropped her pencil, "Leaving…?" she thought to herself, "He can't leave… if he leaves there will only be 1 party here and I could get closed down!" she jumped up from her seat and almost screamed "Don't go!"

Lancer adjusted his blue cloak then chuckled, "I'm not leaving for good, I'm just heading out get a little fresh-air," he then truly thought about what Kisu said and her reactions, "You actually care that I stay here?"

"No!" Kisu burst out in retaliation, her face actually turning red, "But I don't have more than 1 party, I'll be on the streets!" she gave a "Hmph!" and went back to work on those papers of hers; muttering to herself to sell the whole "I really don't care" act.

"Okay then," Lancer gave her his trademark smile before he departed, "I'll take your word on that." The automatic doors slid open and before Kisu knew it he was already gone. She had looked up to at least say "See you later" but he had gone so quick it was completely unrealistic.

Suddenly, Kisu had this alone feeling… but she has been like this every night before he showed up. Why was she suddenly feeling alone? Maybe it was because nobody had ever stayed with her during the nights waiting for more guests to arrive through the lobby. To tell the truth… she actually enjoyed having Lancer's company… at least somebody else was there when she was finishing her bills even if she was cranky towards him. She couldn't believe it… now she couldn't wait for Lancer to return.

Then… the transparent automatic doors slid open again and Kisu could think of only a new guest to add to her "Collection" but to her disappointment… though complimented with a little happiness, it was Lancer once more except now he was soaked to the marrow, "Yeah… the rain's getting quite bad out there… I'll wait." He laughed as he took off his soaking-wet cloak and went to the laundry room to dry it up.

Kisu could not help but stare at him; he looked so powerful even with his calm, pleasurable demeanor. His back was erected so straight she could put a ruler to it and he walked as if he had spent his early years in the military. Then, there was something she saw that made her wonder just who exactly was this Lucario… there were scars everywhere, all over his legs, his arms, his chest… huge gaping scars. Where did he get those injuries from? This answered one question at least; he must have been in his own battles, which could be why he walked into the Inn with that sword sheathed on his belt.

A few minutes passed, Kisu hadn't even touched those bills on her desk after Lancer disappeared into the laundry room. Those scars were keeping her mind occupied until he reemerged with his cloak back on saying "Eh… it's dry enough." He took a seat on the red couch once again, looked back at Kisu, and then said, "I think Kerrece and Nashi are coming down here."

Kisu gave a puzzled face, "Huh? How do you know?" next thing she knew, the elevator door beeped and the doors opened to reveal… whom Lancer mentioned, "Oh…"

The two little ones gave Lancer and Kisu some good news, the Weavile was going to be alright but she will probably be asleep for a few days. Then, there came some… annoying news, they had to go get some berries for their "Patient".

They needed a Chesto berry: A berry that woke Pokemon up normally during battle. Kisu asked why they needed this and Kerrece repeated exactly what his mom told him: "Just so she won't need constant care...." that was understandable.

For two days they have been feeding her through a funnel… a bit unprofessional but it still worked. They had to wash her… and the one thing that always put a cringe on Kisu's face when she thought about it: Changing the diaper they had to put on her… absolutely disgusting. It had to be done either way, but after the first try Lancer had to "Volunteer" to do it himself.

Kisu had to admit, a Chesto berry to wake the Weavile up was definitely a convenient idea but there was one problem. Back around the year 2110 there was a shop in Lilycove that would sell Chesto berries, but they stopped trading them with a farm near Route 121 after they became too expensive. The only place to get them now was the outskirts of Lilycove, Route 121. Either that or go to another city in the Hoenn Region, but that would be completely meaningless.

It was a quick and easy decision to make: Get a little soaked or having to change diapers again… of course they chose the first option but they had to get prepared first. They had a considerable amount of time to get the Chesto berry; it wasn't like the Weavile was going to die if they did not get it back at a certain time. Kisu called an "Adventure" taxi to drive them to their prime destination. Pokemon normally had to pay humans to drive for them because they were not given that privilege themselves.

These types of taxis will go farther than just one city; they will take you anywhere you want to go all over the Region.

As Lancer and Kisu got their things ready, Lancer equipped with his Shamshir sword and Kisu with her bright blue rain jacket which complimented herself because of her "Shininess"; Kayaji was enrolled with the duty of taking care of the unconscious Weavile and her children. Kisu locked her Inn down and shut off all of the lobby appliances.

Lancer was the first to walk outside, having the heavy rain soak him once again while Kisu got the last of her things. Guess it was pointless for him to dry off his cloak in the first place, he just wasted his time. The taxi cab arrived right on time, its bright yellow paint accompanied with the headlights being the only thing visible on the streets.

It was so dark and gloomy, it was a wonder… Lancer could have sworn that with weather such as this… something terrible was happening somewhere in the world. His demeanor changed with the environment, he was a bit more... gloomy.

The taxi-cab driver was a cheery young girl. She had long light red hair which was fashioned into a ponytail that stretched down to her elbows complimented by bright blue eyes. She wore a black sweater with skinny blue jeans with sandals… Lancer couldn't help but notice that and he asked himself "Why is she wearing those sandals with this ridiculous storm going on?"

"Hi guys!" the driver squealed, by Lancer's life experience she sounded like she was new to the job. She was so cheery, he knew that face all too well… the face of an eager young person ready to do the best they can on their new job.

"Hello there." Lancer replied, once again giving his trademark smile to someone other that Kisu for a change. He rested his sword at the door of the interior; he was on the left side while Kisu sat on the right.

"Hi." Kisu responded, flipping the rain jacket's hood off her head and rested her head on the seat, crossing her legs over each other and giving out a loud, overdone sigh, "Can you get us to the Keralys Farmland, please? Oh yeah, can you wait for us afterwards? It'll only take a moment." Lancer could tell that this weather was affecting Kisu's demeanor as well.

"Sure thing guys, we'll get there ASAP, 'Kay?" the driver shifted around on her seat and extended her left hand to both Kisu and Lancer, "My name is Mei Leonarz, pleasure to meet you."

"I'm Kisu Narraley." This was the first friendly smile she gave in this storm.

"I'm Lancer…Ri… Nassumek." He almost revealed himself… he became unusually quiet for a while after that, the only thing on his mind was what the consequences would have been if he were to go passed "R-I".

"Okay guys, here we go," Mei said, putting her foot on the gas, "Hope you guys see everything convenient!" for some reason, Kisu felt bad about this… something about the Keralys Farm now made her worry… something was wrong.

Standing on a roof overlooking the taxicab in which Lancer and Kisu departed, Volke Buchannan revised his orders and realized he could not follow Lancer out of the city. He'd might as well just sit there and wait with the exact same gear he wore about 2 days ago when Lancer first arrived.

"Well… this is going to be boring." He muttered to himself.

**

There was no conversation between anyone along the way; Mei just did her job with that radio blaring with the most ridiculous songs with the corniest lyrics. It took them an hour to arrive at the Keralys Farm but along the way Lancer had fallen asleep. Kisu just noticed that he hasn't slept since he first arrived at the Inn, all he had been doing that entire time was help her and now… with this gloomy weather altering her demeanor… she really appreciated what Lancer was doing for her and she felt sorry that she had been so bossy. She felt as bossy as one of those Communist cult leaders always trying to turn this government into a Totalitarian Communism.

Oh well, she couldn't show her weakness just yet. Lucarios weren't trusted in the Hoenn Region these days, what if he was just putting up an act to get her to let her guard down then he strikes when she least expects it? She had a vision of herself actually being polite to Lancer, then, when she turned around to continue with whatever she was working on… he crept up behind her, wrapped a belt around her neck, and tightened it to the point where it snapped her neck in half.

That vision horrified her, it was just like all of those reports about Lucarios going around and murdering just to see or smell the victim's blood. What made Lancer different from the rest of them? She suddenly felt confused, she wanted to feel comfortable around him but something in her mind was just screaming "Don't trust him!"

The sword he carried around with him, as he slept she just kept glancing at it… then her eyes retreated… then she glanced again… and her eyes retreated again. What has this sword done to people? She could only imagine…

It didn't make sense, why would such a helpful, kind, supposedly peaceful Lucario be doing with a sword? A sword is used to kill… that means… he must have killed somebody with it…

Right when the car stopped Lancer woke up, yawned, and stretched his arms as far as they could go in this small cab. Kisu watched his every move like a detective; it wasn't even funny how she was just checking every detail of his body language but so far… nothing wrong. He just woke up… that's it… there's nothing murderous about that.

"Whoa, this storm is getting pretty bad out there," Lancer said, peeking out the car window, "Be careful Miss."

"I will…" Kisu replied, trying so hard to just think of Lancer as a nice, friendly, peaceful Lucario… but with all of those rumors it was extremely difficult.

Lancer and Kisu both stepped out of the cab at the same time, "Hey guys," Mei called before Lancer closed his door but after Kisu closed hers, "I'm going to find a place to wait so my car doesn't get pounded by this rain anymore, just walk up towards the street when you're done and I'll be able to see you, okay?"

"Yes ma'am, thank you for the ride." Lancer said as he threw her the money, knowing Kisu had forgotten all about that.

"No, no, thank…" Mei flipped the money she received, "…you." She started the engine as Lancer shut the door and drove off to find a good place to wait for them.

There was a short intermission, as they walked through the Keralys Farm property… "Hope you don't mind Kisu…" Lancer tried to keep his voice above the volume of the pounding rain, "I… sort of have to use the bathroom."

Kisu almost fell over in annoyance, her entire face grew shadowy as she said, "Do I have to treat you like a baby?" her tone became sarcastic, "Do you want me to hold your hand while you go potty?" by that time, Lancer was already gone. He figured he didn't have to stay if she was criticizing him of being unable to go by himself. "You'd better be back soon." Kisu muttered. A drop of rain evaded her hood and fell into her eye; she let out a low grunt and shook her head to try to adjust the irritation.

Up the steps of the small, two-story farmhouse; Kisu tried to make herself a little more presentable without beads of rain all over her face. She wiped it off with the inner layer of her rain jacket then rang the doorbell. Kisu stood still, her back erect with a friendly smile on her face.

These people were old friends of hers, the two Absols that lived here: Cerulis and Kamina Uraski, were the new famers of Keralys. The previous owners had sold them the farm for some reason… but there was a rumor that they were afraid about some sort of treasure that nobody had ever been able to find… even those owners never found it and they worried about their safety. Cerulis and Kamina took this farm and all of the problems with it… occasionally Kisu would worry about them because there are a lot of greedy people out there who would do anything to get their hands of truckloads of money… they would do anything.

This was odd, they didn't answer yet. Oh well, Kisu rang the doorbell again. She knew they didn't go to sleep until at least 12:30am, it was like their routine. Even if they were tired they would wait until 12:30 rolled around. Some say they were fools for doing that, they should go to sleep late and wake up early… but Cerulis and Kamina say that for some reason they function better with sleep at this time. It was a bit strange.

"There's no way…" Kisu muttered, "They're always here, they wouldn't just leave without at least calling." Her head went downwind, "I should've probably called in advance either way, I shouldn't expect people to be here all the - AHH!" right at that moment, a man with a pistol opened the door, grabbed Kisu without giving her the chance to even think about fighting back, and pulled her inside.

The men quickly went to business. They knew that those Absols: Cerulis and Kamina weren't going to give away the treasure's location… but in all honesty… they weren't even sure these Absols even knew where it was… but they were going to force that information out of them. This was a "Live or Die" situation, either the Absols tell them where the treasure is… or Kisu dies.

Kisu didn't even know what was happening until she was at a gunpoint with a pistol. It all happened so fast… where did everything go wrong? Kisu has been in life or death situations before… but none that have ever happened so sudden. Normally she would expect it coming then get her butt saved by one of the snipers looming over Lilycove.

No snipers here… no snipers anywhere besides cities. This was bad… even if Lancer had a sword with him, she couldn't rely on him to save her life. It was just a sword, a sword against 4 pistols and an assault rife… how could he win? Kisu made up her mind instantly, Lancer might as well just stay outside in the rain… she wouldn't want both of them to go out like this.

Even if she wasn't really fond of Lancer, she didn't want him to die too… she didn't want to see anybody with no bad intentions die.

"I'll give you 10 seconds to tell us where this so-called 'Treasure' is…" the man with the pistol to Kisu's head forcefully stated, "…Or I'll blow her head clear off." Kisu's arms were tied to each other and the man pushed down on her with his foot so she couldn't move. Tears ran down her eyes and she shivered at the thought of her imminent death… they just wanted some berries… how could it have turned into something like this?

"Threatening… are there no lengths to which you thieves won't sink?!" Cerulis shouted in retaliation. He almost attacked but something stopped him… Cerulis sensed something weak about the 4 men with pistols… he might have been able to take them out and save Kisu's life at the cost of his own… but that man with the assault rifle… there was something different about him.

His presence almost felt… inhuman.

"10…" the man commenced with a countdown, shifting his finger on the trigger. Kisu's heart skipped a beat, she tried all she could to move but the force of the man's foot was just too powerful for her.

"I beg of you, think about what you're doing!" Cerulis yelled, now feeling defenseless.

"9…" lightning fired from the sky, a bright light emitting itself through the one window next to the door.

"8…" the man was counting slowly just to build up some suspense; the thought of these Pokemon fearing him filled him with so much pride for himself. That was pride? Holding down innocent Pokemon at gunpoint? Corruption is a scary thing.

"You thieves are all the same… let the girl go!!"

"We're a hired hand." The man with the assault rifle stated forcefully, "Continue."

"7…"

"Please… we don't know where the treasure is!!" Kamina screamed, the same amount of tears flooding her eyes just as Kisu's.

"Liars… 6…"

"We don't know where the damn treasure is!" Cerulis was having second thought… to save the life of this young Gardevoir who just came here to purchase some berries… he may have to sacrifice himself. To see a young person die without being able to do anything about it was just unbearable.

"5…"

"Get your filthy foot off of me!" Kisu screamed, now trying with everything she had to fight back. She squirmed until the man forced her face-first to the floor, "No, stop it!!" Kisu yelled with her voice cracking.

It is said that your true nature is exposed when faced with a deadly situation. This is who Kisu really was under all of that crankiness, a scared girl who… just wanted somebody to be at her side to make her stronger. In her mind, she was always 50% if there was a man with her… she could be whole.

"4…"

"Kisu, please… we didn't want this for you!" Kamina whimpered.

"3…"

"You guys would never do something like this to me on purpose!" Kisu yelled, Cerulis and Kamina unable to act.

"2…"

"If you pull that trigger…"

"1…" he cocked the gun and flexed his finger to pull the trigger.

Cerulis froze; he couldn't do anything except shutting his eyes along with Kamina. Then… a miracle occurred. The door fired off of its hinges, curved to the point where it was facing a horizontal direction and rammed the man with the gun to Kisu's head in the face. His entire body went straight with the door against the wall, almost crushing his entire ribcage. It was like a blast of wind for Kisu, she had no idea what happened… but all she knew was that the man wasn't hovering above her anymore.

"Looks like I got here on time…" Lancer said then glanced at the Absols instantly knowing that this was their house, "Sorry about the door!" she giggled in embarrassment.

"You've got to be kidding…" Kisu thought, "How can he be so polite in a situation like this…" she paused, "At least he's… wait a second… no, there's no way he can win!"

"Who is this clown?" one of the men guarding Cerulis and Kamina asked, making it seem like Lancer was just another distraction.

Lancer stood there with his sword safely kept in his sheathe, his eyes glowing blue, his cloak flowing with the stormy winds, he stood still, no shivering from the wet and cold.

"I don't know but take him down now…" the leader said, "He looks serious."

"Aah… Lancer!" Kisu almost screamed and she stuck her arms out and yelled, "Get out of here, you don't have a chance!"

"Fire!" the leader ordered.

"No!"


	4. Rakeris Variety

Kisu was now in an emotional crossroad. She didn't know anything about Lancer's powers, nothing at all. The only thing that she did know about him was the fact that he was kind, gentle, helpful, and a Lucario… that was all. No warrior she had ever known has had the demeanor of Lancer, and yet… she felt like he knew what he was doing.

What was this? She never saw him in action, but she knew he did save that one Weavile's life… even though she didn't know exactly how he did it. Kisu hasn't been this scared for quite a long time, it was like another wake-up call saying that life can end so abruptly… but with Lancer here… she felt a bit worried but… she also felt unthreatened. It was like her personal moral for Lancer was in the middle of 1-100 as 50.

Then, before Kisu knew it, the leader of the group of hostile robbers ordered "Fire!" with his right arm extending outwards; his index finger directing itself towards Lancer who stood there as if he knew they were going to miss every shot.

He was right.

All of them men opened fire at Lancer, but he pulled off something so unrealistic it was incredibly farfetched. Lancer had dodged each bullet individually with a series of liquid-like movements that almost made him look transparent and intangible… like a phantom. The bullets flew right passed him and carved straight into the wall and outside where the door was missing.

This was incredible, all of the humans were baffled… did they all just miss every shot? Some of them almost dropped their guns in fright as Lancer reappeared tangible once more. That entire fiasco… Lancer made it look like he was disappearing and reappearing in a dancing motion. He was yet to unsheathe his sword but opposing morality nearly caused the men to retreat.

"Umaskis," one of the men murmured, turning back to the leader who tried to keep his fear down to an undetectable level, "What… are your orders?" one of the men finally helped the comrade downed by the door Lancer kicked off the hinges.

Lancer's normally bright, always-smiling face was darkened by the sense of danger. His peaceful eyes suddenly transformed into ones with murderous intent. Aura began charging in both of his paws to the point where they were visible from his fur, like a blue fire… which then shaped itself in the form of human hands.

"What…?" Umaskis, the leader of the group who was equipped with the assault rifle, gasped. The last time he saw this was… from the Anti-Pokemon Revolution. He remembered it so clearly, those Lucarios who were able to force their Aura into the shape of whatever they desired… in their case… a hand to hold a weapon such as a gun or a sword… in Lancer's case… a sword. "This Lucario looks like…" he cut himself off and looked into Lancer's eyes, "He has the eyes of somebody who lived through that chaotic time as a very young person…"

Umaskis felt cornered even with the entire group he had with him. This Lucario… Lancer, by what that shiny Gardevoir said, truly meant business. Lancer clenched his sword and slowly pulled it out of his sheathe. This stance struck fear into the men's hearts, it didn't look good at all… this Lucario knew what he was doing and before they had time to even think… Lancer vanished in that liquid-like motion of his.

"Lancer!" Kisu screamed, her eyes percolating at the sight of Lancer commencing with a strike against the humans, but in no time… he reappeared at the other side of the room far away from the door-less entrance with his sword back in its sheathe.

Umaskis was certain his men were going to turn around and open fire once more… but that certainty instantly degraded into confusion. They were all standing there with blank looks on their faces… did he space out? No, Lancer was still moving freely but the men froze up. One would say they were stuck in time but that was highly unethical.

"What are you guys do - Ahh…" Umaskis sputtered for breath when all 4 of his men including the man struck down by the kicked-down door fell to the soft carpet floor, blood escaping their mouths but not from any other part of their bodies. On closer inspection, they were each jabbed in their stomachs harshly by the sword's handle. None were dead, but they were all unconscious.

Umaskis was now alone.

"Aishakiri-Variety: Laneskys-Kaoveris..." These words were chanted in the Pokemon language meaning "The Invisible Melee".

"Oh… my… God…!" Kisu almost squealed, then reverted to self-thought-communication, "Lancer really is strong… and with that demeanor of his… I would have never guessed!"

"You have just experienced your first warning," Lancer stated with a deeper voice, not even caring to look at his downed opponents, "Attempt to rise and continue fighting… and I will make sure that this pain you just experienced is so much worse."

Kisu suddenly became direly frightened. That tone of voice… that wasn't Lancer at all. Before he sounded so calm, even when he broke that door down he was calm, but now… it just sounded like he was angry. For 2 days Kisu was wondering if Lancer could ever get mad even with all of the insults she throws at him periodically… but he always responds as if she was simply joking with him.

"Lancer…" she whispered.

"Honey…" Kamina said in a low tone to Cerulis, "Do you remember who that is?"

Cerulis turned to his wife as she gave off a reassuring smile, "You mean…" it didn't make any sense. The man he was thinking of vanished off the face of the Earth such a long time ago. How could that be him?

"Yes… Cerulis…" Kamina turned to Lancer, reminiscing on how much he did for both her and her husband, "That's the Ronin Mercenary."

Kisu did not hear their conversation; she was too sucked into the battle to even feel the vibrations of their voices. The visions of Lancer playing around with Nashi and Kerrece, how he brought food to Kayaji the crippled Glaceon, how he washed the dishes, cooked whatever fitted the weekly food schedule, and, plain and simple, helped out around the Inn coursed through her mind. This couldn't be the Lancer she remembered… was he somebody else? No, that was way too farfetched. He had the same cloak on, the same sword, the same blue eyes… everything.

Umaskis, right after losing the support of his teammates, felt as if he was in a rut: One on one with a Lucario who moves with speed which can't be deciphered by the naked eye… or was he?

"I'm not stupid enough to think that I can take you on myself," Umaskis called out to Lancer, reaching into the pocket of his black pants with a barely noticeable smirk, "But I know somebody who can!"

Lancer took advantage of this situation. Umaskis was too busy reaching into his pocket that he didn't even notice his guard was down, his rifle was aiming downward. He charged with that incredible speed yelling out, "Aishakiri-Variety: Laneskys-Kaoveris…!"

"Aishakiri-Variety…" Kisu thought, "What style is that? I've never heard of it. "

Something caught Lancer's eye right at the last minute… something he never expected to see, "It can't be…" he thought as he forced a withdrawal from his attack; sliding across the carpet floor in the circular motion with his sword sheathed.

"Why did you stop?" Kisu shouted, "Get him!" then she too finally saw what caught Lancer's attention. That was impossible; there was no way he could have obtained it.

"A Pokeball… that's why he sensed so inhuman… he had a Pokemon with him!" Cerulis thought.

"A… Pokeball…" Lancer growled as Umaskis tossed the Pokeball in his left hand up then caught it, "You know Pokeballs are illegal now!"

"Illegality doesn't mean Pokeballs don't exist…" Umaskis finally felt as if he had the upper hand, the Pokemon he contained in this ball was the ticket to making a safe retreat. He chucked the Pokeball at Lancer, it hit the floor, and then opened… and with a burst of bright light… it revealed a female Pikachu with a forest-camouflage beret.

"A Pikachu…?" Kisu tried her hardest to hold back the incoming urge to snicker, "Lancer, take that puny thing out." She said with a smile of relief. For a second there, Kisu thought it was going to be some huge Pokemon that would rip the house apart, but no… it was a little yellow electrical rat.

"Looks like I don't have a supporting crowd." The Pikachu said with an almost gleeful tone, but, once her eyes locked onto Lancer… her demeanor degraded into frustration, "Please… tell me this is my opponent…" she asked, for some reason, hoping she would be able to show Lancer her full strength.

"Yes it is, now if you please…" Umaskis ran towards the exit, "Take them out!" and with that… he made his escape, leaving all of his comrades behind. What a monster.

"Wait just a second!" Lancer yelled, but before he had a chance to follow Umaskis… the Pikachu blocked his path.

"I'm afraid that I'm your opponent now… Lucario," the Pikachu urged, "I, Sapphire Ryoka, challenge you!" she got on all 4 paws and sustained a battle stance with her thunderbolt-formation tail high up in the air.

"I don't want to fight you." Lancer replied. Kisu saw that murderous look in Lancer's eyes fade away when he laid eyes on Sapphire, the Pikachu. She felt somewhat relieved.

"You don't have a choice!" Sapphire shouted as she vanished into thin air, giving Lancer hardly a millisecond to react.

"What…?" Cerulis thought, "Her speed…" before he could even finish his thought, Lancer had successfully defended himself against a quick attack combined with an Iron Tail, "…is almost identical of that of the Ronin Mercenary!" Cerulis finally finished his thought.

That Iron Tail, however, was just a like a sword which gave Lancer a bigger chance in defense… but the fact that she was able to move so quickly… that diminished some of the morality based on judgmental accusations. This Pikachu was definitely no push-over.

"Ahh… no way…" Kisu muttered, "Looks like she isn't as weak as I thought… damn it…"

There was a moment of silence between the two opponents, then that's when Lancer noticed that the 4 men previously brought down began to regain their consciousness, pick up their weapons, and continue their fight.

Lancer looked down at them, they were barely able to stand up… and with that… he finished his chant, "Laneskys-Kaoveris-Eku…" right then, the 4 men felt a horrifying pain originating from where Lancer had struck them. This was the full chant, by cutting part of it off… Lancer had diminished 50% of the attack's true power… now… by finishing the chant, he revealed all of what the pain of this attack should be 100%.

Laneskys-Kaoveris-Eku: The "Invisible Melee Prime".

"Well that was weird," Sapphire muttered, then digressed, "No matter what…" her eyes resembled one who absolutely needed to win a certain fight… this fight, "I'm not going to lose to someone like you!" did she have some sort of personal grudge against Lancer? She seemed to have been exerting extra anger to him individually.

"Please, I don't want to continue this fight," Lancer tried to talk some reason into her, "Just let us go in peace and you may go back to wherever you came…" he reworded his sentence afterwards, "Instead… why are you staying with humans who keep you in those wretched Pokeballs?" Lancer extended his right paw, Aura still flaming over it to turn it into a hand… he finally realized this, deactivated the Aura, chuckled, then re-extended his paw, "You can live with Miss Kisu and I in the Kairet Inn down by Lilycove."

"Yeah!" Kisu cheered, "The more the merrier!" then she continued aside, "The more money that is… hehe." She giggled, "It's only $50 a week!"

"$50 a week?" Lancer turned around to Kisu with an outraged look, "But I thought it was $50 a night…"

"Yeah well… I plain-out just didn't want you to come into my Inn, haha."

"Ah-h-h-h… I knew there was something peculiar about that price…" Lancer groaned but he changed the subject, turned back around, and gave Sapphire a warm smile, "Come on, you'll at least be welcome with us… we promise we won't shove you in a Pokeball, hehe."

"You don't know anything…" Sapphire muttered, then without another word… she vanished once more

"Not again!" Kamina yelled, still struggling to break free of the rope she and her husband were tied down with.

Lancer saw Sapphire coming once more and he blocked her Iron Tail. She used the same move twice… why? Knowing how warriors are, normally you need to be stealthy when it comes to attacks, use combos and different styles to confuse your enemy. Was this the only attack Sapphire knew? If it was, she had no chance of winning. He pushed her off his sword, watching her land on the ground with all fours perfectly.

"Damn it…" Sapphire whispered.

"Why do you insist on fighting even though you know I'm going to block your attack?" Lancer asked, "Don't you think that when an enemy wants peace with you it is usually smart to accept his offer?"

Sapphire grunted in frustration with her face down, one tear escaped her eyes but she wiped it off instantly… trying not to show her emotions, then yelled, "What would a murderous Lucario like yourself know about peace anyways?!" she began sliding her paws against the carpet, all 4 of her paws all at once as if she was walking in place, "All you creatures ever do is murder… murder… murder!" suddenly, she levitated off the ground with static electricity surging in her paws, she rolled up in a ball then vanished once more.

A drop of rain slid through the cracks in the ceiling and plummeted to the ground.

"This is a different attack." Lancer thought, preparing for a weapon-tail deadlock, "I'd better be… Ah!" he gasped when he had a flashback, this couldn't be… this attack was in the Rakeris-Variety, always used for Pikachus or Raichus and is commonly referred to as an Assassin style. This was too fast, Lancer had to move or block, either one would have sufficed.

"Got you." Sapphire muttered.

No, she was wrong. Lancer had blocked her attack once more but he felt something different… now she was using vertical strikes instead of just blindly throwing Iron Tails at him. She was curled up into a ball and flung herself across the room with her tail sticking out… she was like a rotating saw blade. This was so familiar, Lancer remembered this attack from someone individually but he just couldn't find the name.

"Attack her!" Cerulis ordered, "Come on, if you show her mercy she'll surely beat you!" he wanted to help Lancer attack or at least make Sapphire run away by breaking out of this accursed rope. The only reason he didn't try that before was because he was surrounded by a group of armed men… what could he do? But now… he was free to attempt an escape.

"You Lucarios… I'll kill you all…" Sapphire growled.

"Oh… man…" Lancer raised his voice in frustration, "Please don't tell me the only reason you decide to pursue in defeating me is because I'm a Lucario."

"As a matter of fact… that's exactly what I did." Sapphire gave out a bratty smile as she wagged her tail, trying to get Lancer angry, "You 'Uniks' are all the same…"

"Ooh man…" Kisu muttered, feeling the sting from that insult. Unik is a term used for the Lucarios, it means "Creature that doesn't deserve to live in this world" or something like that. Kisu could feel Lancer's pain; being called a Unik when you're a Lucario was really a hurtful thing especially to the Lucarios who are trying to remake their reputation after the Riocynn incident.

"I'm sorry you feel that way." Lancer proclaimed, unsheathing his sword revealing the full length of his blade, "It seems to me you're not going to run away from this fight, am I right?"

"You got that right, Unik!" Sapphire readied herself for another close-encounter, "Let's do this!" she rubbed her paws against the carpet as fast as she could until she began levitating… then she vanished into thin air once more.

"The Assassin's technique again…" Lancer thought, knowing that this next strike can come from any direction and if he missed the block… there could be dire consequences. This Iron Tail was rotating so quickly, it could slice him in half if he's not careful about this.

"Move around, don't just stand there!" Cerulis shouted instructions like a football coach, "If you just stand there, you'll just be an easy target!"

Lancer saw one strike coming, but something was different again… when he flowed to the right to evade… Sapphire was somehow able to maneuver her attack to skin off some of his cloak. That was impossible, he was sure he dodged it, he shouldn't even have a scratch on him.

"Look out, Lancer!" Kisu screamed as Sapphire pulled a ricochet off the wall all around Lancer then fired herself back towards him only to be stopped by deflection from Lancer's sword. But, even after that deflection, something didn't feel right about the weight pushed up against Lancer and before he knew it… Sapphire had vanished once more.

"What…?" Lancer muttered, preparing for a strike from the front… but Sapphire didn't reappear in front of him… no… quite the opposite… it took too long for Lancer to realize one crucial fact… she was right behind him. This speed surpassed his own, he did not have a problem admitting that, but with this speed there is normally some sort of flaw or some place where the speed slows down just the smallest amount. No. Sapphire was able to get around him without slowing down at all.

"Rakeris-Variety…" Sapphire thought, her attention to Lancer's back, "Nakero-Hatuzen!" in the English language, Nakero-Hatuzen means "The Silent Tail-Blade".

Her attack successfully landed, a bright slice shot through Lancer's back down in a vertical direction. It took just a few more milliseconds for Lancer's blood to fly through the air. He gave out a pained grunt as he felt himself propelling forward, hitting the ground face-first.

The drop of rain finally hit the ground… this all happened in a matter of 2 seconds.

Lancer gave out unsteady breaths at the combination of pain and cold. It was unbearable, to have that awful feeling… that feeling of having icy wind enter your body, "Lancer!" Kisu, Cerulis, and Kamina all called out in fear.

"Huh?" Sapphire gave a pondering look, "You should be sliced completely in half… why did it stop at the skin?" her head went downwind and her ears lowered themselves, "How strange."

Lancer had a strange feeling in his stomach. He pushed himself off of the ground with his sheathe, gasped for breath, then growled, "Please," he stared Sapphire in the eyes, "I'm telling you, I'm holding everything back so you can either come with us or run… but don't push my generosity." Lancer forced himself into a battle stance, "Join or leave… but if you attack once more… I will be forced to defend myself."

Sapphire gave off a cocky giggle then vanished just as she did the previous few times, "You're just mad because there's someone faster than you Lucario!" Sapphire yelled, her voice reverberating around the room as she teased Lancer with her uncoordinated and unplanned movement directions, "I am the best one here even if I'm the smallest!" she aimed for his back once more, rubbed her paws against the carpet while sustaining that same speed, then jumped into that ball-formation, "Die."

"Lancer!" Kisu really believed this was the end for a moment… it all looked like it was planned and she really was convinced that Lancer was going to become two bodies in just a few moments but…

"Showing me the same move more than two times is…" Lancer turned around, seeing her movement clearly as if she was going in slow-motion, "…fatal." Then… with the swift movement of his sheathe… he located a flaw in Sapphire's attack: While the area where she is facing is dangerous to approach, that leaves the rest of her body vulnerable which led to her having a metal sword carrier ram into her face.

"What?!" Sapphire screamed in her own mind.

"He got her!" Kisu cheered, "Go Lancer!" her emotions against Lancer were now twisted up. She never knew a combination of peace and power, most people who would train to be as powerful and resourceful as Lancer would normally become corrupted towards the end. She gave off a smirk knowing that this didn't mean she wasn't going to stop abusing his generosity; she never had a helper as useful as he was and she planned to milk Lancer out of all of his kindness. Oh well, looked like he won now, she figured they were going to call the police, get these people arrested, get the Chesto berry, and go back to the Inn.

Sapphire let out a gasp. She was only able to think "He… he got me…?" as she crashed into a table on the other side of the room, her beret slowly falling to the ground as if it was as light as a feather. Cerulis and Kamina had it right there, this farm was way too much trouble for them to maintain. It was a decision that had been faintly lingering there for a while because they were always dreading this day… the day where their lives would be put in danger just for some treasure that might actually not exist.

She was able to get back up, but there was a noticeable purple mark on her right cheek where Lancer had struck, blood dripped down her chin from her mouth. She gave a defeated look which quickly turned into anger, "I'm not defeated…" she proclaimed, "You caught me off guard and I paid for it… Unik, I'm going to find you again soon when I am at full power…" she looked at the 4 downed men, all unconscious, "You can keep them, they don't even matter."

"…Before you leave," Lancer interrupted, "Why do you hate Lucarios so much…?"

"You know… I bet you have a lot more to do with what happened to me than you think," Sapphire cruelly stated, "You've probably killed so many people that you don't even know why you've hurt."

"That's not true!" Kisu yelled in defense for Lancer, in a way, he felt flattered that she would actually speak out on his side after she insults him all the time, "Lancer isn't like those other Lucarios!"

"You'll see later…" Sapphire muttered, "When he stabs you in the back." And with that, she vanished but not with an attack… she retreated out the door.

Lancer thought to himself, "She obviously has a grudge against Lucarios… like most people do after the Riocynn incident… I had to be easy on her until I struck that blow against her… I'm sorry Sapphire Ryoka, but you forced me to do it… I do hope we meet again soon so I may show you that I am not just a mindless, violent Lucario most people perceive me to be… or any other good Lucarios out there."

That was the end of the battle. Lancer had untied Cerulis, Kamina, and Kisu and they called the police to get those unconscious men arrested. Everybody was sure that they would get the punishment of a lifetime. The storm was clearing up just a little bit, but the rain was still pouring uncontrollably as Lancer and Kisu stepped out of the house, no door, inside rattled around, windows broken, with the Chesto berry they came for in the first place. Cerulis and Kamina were talking about moving out sometime afterwards… most likely a good idea because whoever sent those men would probably strike again.

Lancer walked out in the middle of the road like Mei, their taxicab driver, asked him to do. In no time at all, her car was ready, she picked them up, and they were off to return to Lilycove city. Kisu's lingering fear of Lancer suddenly drifted away, she knew he was powerful… but he did all of this to protect her and the two Absols from harm. He wasn't a bad Lucario after all… and she was ashamed that it took her about 2 days to figure that out. Now she felt so comfortable with Lancer… she fell asleep in the car with her head resting on his right shoulder all the way back to the Kairet Inn.

What a way to end a life-threatening situation.


	5. Carmine Anystarys

"I'm sorry… but you're father is dead…" those words echoed through the Weavile's mind as she was thrown in a half-conscious state.

What was this impure feeling? Everything ached, everything felt stiff… as if the body has been motionless for days. Inside the mind of the Weavile previously rescued. She felt something in her mouth… what was it? It felt circular and tasted sweet. It was a berry no doubt but what kind? Suddenly, her jaws were moving on their own; somebody was chewing that berry for her and helped her swallow it. Half-consciousness… she couldn't even chew her own food but she partially knew what was happening. It was a paw helping her chew, not a human hand... no… plush and furry paws.

She felt so useless and oblivious right now… because she was. She could barely see anything, just a bright light with a few figures hovering over her. Vision was mostly impaired; it was just a bright white background with blurry shadowy bodies. They were talking amongst each other but it was all garbled out as if they were speaking a different language. No, that couldn't be it… she had a headache, that could be one of the causes of this unusual state of mind. Oh well, too late to think about that now… she suddenly felt a blast of energy rise up from her stomach a few moments after she swallowed the berry fed to her.

Then… she forgot all of what just happened to her. It was as if that state of mind she was going through during half-consciousness was just deleted once she became conscious once more… and with that… she let out a scream of terror knowing that the last thing she saw was a bunch of humans ganging up on her. A loud screech was heard, but it wasn't from anything around her… no… she screamed so loud that her eardrums treated it like a loud explosion with that weird screeching noise which was identical to somebody scraping their nails against a chalkboard.

"Well that was pleasant…" Lancer groaned with his paws over his ears just like everybody else in the room. Everybody: Lancer, Kisu, Kerrece, Nashi, and Kayaji the crippled Glaceon. The Weavile looked around her, Kerrece and Nashi were lying at her bedside, Kisu was standing to the left of the bed and Lancer to the right while Kayaji rested in the other bed right next to her. Between the two beds, there was a nightstand with a crappy lamp upon it which occasionally and randomly turned on and off. "Good to see you're awake…" Lancer chuckled, shaking off the eeriness of that high-pitched scream.

"Well Lancer… I wouldn't say that, she made one heck of a first impression," Kisu stated, "Mind if I call you 'Ms. Annihilate-everyone's-freaking-eardrums'?" Kisu crossed her arms over each other and stood her ground, preparing for a defensive comeback from the Weavile. She made that insult just to see what kind of person the Weavile is, if she reverts to violence instantly… that just means those men were probably ganging up on her just because she pissed them off or committed a felony against them.

"That would be too inconvenient for you guys to keep calling me that; it's too long of a name," the Weavile joked with a friendly tone much like Lancer, "Just call me Carmine… last name Anystarys, hehe." She threw the blankets off of her and lifted herself from the torso up into an erect position. Her head still ached from being rattled around by those humans, her left eye remained shut… it was like a one-step process she used to get rid of some of the pain… of course… there was no evidence that shutting your left eye tightly actually helped with pain… in fact… it just sounded downright farfetched.

"Anystarys…" Lancer thought, "Why do I recognize that last name?"

"…Nice to meet you!" Kayaji replied.

"Odd…" Lancer thought, momentarily spacing out, "When I first saw her… when she was running from those men… she seemed a bit more serious back then but now… now… she sounds like she doesn't have a care in the world." Lancer was puzzled, this Carmine person… Lancer could have sworn her demeanor was going to be the exact opposite of what she's displaying right now.

Then he remembered that red envelope and began asking himself once more… why were those men beating her up for that thing? Maybe it was a secret… maybe he shouldn't get involved. Oh well. Even when he tried to keep his mercenary status a secret between his friends… he knew that one of those rules of being a mercenary was never ask to help in something he knew nothing about.

As much as he wanted to help people… if he didn't have a good insight on the situation… things could backfire. What if Carmine was a thief and those men were merely trying to get the envelope back from her? If he decided to help her get it back… he could get in trouble with the Lilycove authorities. He needed to figure out a bit more of what was happening until he decided to do anything but he needed to do it discreetly.

"Hey… are you alright?" Kisu asked, waving her arm in Lancer's face just seeing if his eyes would follow but they didn't.

"Oh, sorry," Lancer responded, returning back to his proper state of mind, "Just spaced out I guess." Carmine still sat in the bed with the blanket only over her legs but she suddenly fell back over on her pillow with a drained look on her face.

"Wow… I feel like crap." She stated, scratching off dried up drool from her chin, "How long was I out?" she stretched and yawned, her eyes watering up when she shut them tightly.

"Uh… you were out for a few days, dear." Kayaji said from the second bed next to Carmine's. Carmine was a bit surprised; Kayaji had been so quiet over there that Carmine forgot she even existed. Her fully-matured feminine voice gave off a motherly personality… that… and how she said "Dear".

Carmine gasped when that information finally registered in her mind. The red envelope flashed in her sights, the valuable item that was inside… gone. She knew what it was, but she wondered if anybody knew about it… she kept it stealthy… she chose not to speak a word of that envelope for two reasons… revealing that one of those reasons was that these kind people would most likely be caught in the crossfire of this situation. The other reason… she didn't even want to think about.

Then, just when she chose to let the envelope remain a secret to these people, she noticed that the Lucario… his name Lancer by what that shiny Gardevoir called him… was the Lucario that saved her life. She suddenly became engulfed in happiness… but also in confusion.

That Lucario had helped her out of her troubles! But it was the Lucario species that… made her life so hard. Why she felt so emotional about this was because all of her life, when she was in trouble… people turned the other way and pretended they didn't see. She's been beaten up on the streets, in stores, in random locations… whatever… somehow she was able to piss people off into beating her up. Even if she was a female, a group of guys would just gang up on her and kick the crap out of her… mostly because she was a Pokemon. And now… after all that… the species that caused her so much pain in her childhood… during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution… saved her.

That just proves that not much came out of the Anti-Pokemon Revolution. At the end, there was supposed to be an agreement that Pokemon and humans could live together in society with Pokemon being able to own their own businesses and etcetera… but now… now the Pokemon only had half of what they fought for and they are still being oppressed.

Carmine hopped right out of that bed and tackled Lancer with her arms around his neck and a joyous gleam in her eyes, she didn't care about what his species all together did to her… all she cared about right now was the fact that this Lucario… Lancer… a member of the species she felt so stereotypical about… saved her.

Lancer, of course, gave out that comic-relief groan as he fell to the floor in surprise. This came completely out of nowhere. One second she was in some abnormal state of unconsciousness, the next second she wakes up… THEN she jumps on him? Yeah… that totally makes sense.

"What the hell?" Kisu thought, having a bit of jealousy rise within her, "You've got to be kidding me…"

"I can't believe you did this for me!!" Carmine squealed, squeezing Lancer roughly to the point where he could barely breathe, "You made all of those humans run away… that was freaking awesome!!" Lancer was letting out grunts, trying to signalize the fact that he couldn't breathe now… but Carmine wasn't taking that hint.

"Okay sweetie, I think you're suffocating him." Kayaji chuckled, still stuck on her bed. She was crippled, she couldn't walk… and when she used that special wheelchair made for her… it just made it so it was extremely difficult to maintain a certain speed because the movements required took almost all of her energy away after 30 minutes.

"Huh?" Carmine let Lancer go and he burst out with coughs, trying to catch his breath after having his throat blocked off, "Oh…" Carmine gave off a nervous giggle; "Sorry…" she got up, helped Lancer off the floor, and then dusted him off. Thunder struck from the outside which made Kerrece and Nashi jump up from the bed and land on the carpet. A cold breeze filled the room.

"That's… perfectly normal…" Lancer's voice was a bit cut off; it was like he was still choking. "It's alright to express your feeling… definitely alright…" he coughed.

**

After their little introduction, Carmine knew everybody's name after their own individual greetings. After realizing this place was an Inn… Carmine was relieved. She agreed to pay the $50 a week even when Lancer was still paying $50 a day without complaining one bit. With this, we rejoin as morning finally turns around. Everybody except for Lancer and Carmine got some sleep.

It was Monday morning which meant now everybody was allowed to have pancakes. And… oh what a surprise… the storm was still going on. How inconvenient. Oh well. The sleepless Lucario went into the kitchen around 7:00am and began cooking. Once that refrigerator door opened, however, Kerrece and Nashi jumped out of their bed and hopped on Lancer… like everybody else did. It was their way of saying "Good morning!"

As those 3 cooked up breakfast to help Kisu out… Lancer couldn't help but think about Carmine. Was she a criminal or was she just an innocent citizen who was caught up in a wrong situation? It was hard to tell after Carmine's dramatic demeanor change. Lancer saw himself remembering how she yelled "Move!" when he stepped out of the Inn… back when she was running away from that group of men. Now, she sounded sweet and innocent… this puzzled Lancer enough to the point where he didn't notice that Kerrece was trying to work the stove… which resulted in him burning the tip of the leaf on his Leafeon head.

"Whoa…" Lancer thought, finally seeing how he paid no attention. It wasn't that bad of a burn, he was pretty sure that leaves on the Leafeons could grow back… but this burn was the size of a fly… it wasn't all that serious. Either way, Lancer gave him a bag of ice and told him to put the leaf flat on a table so the ice could actually take effect. What would be the point of having an ice bag if the part of the body was a frail leaf that couldn't support it?

"Maybe it would be better if I finish it myself…" Lancer stated; foreshadowing what might happen if he spaces out again and lets the children burn themselves.

After finishing, he decided he couldn't take it anymore. He was too tired to continue, though he was ashamed of himself for implying he should sleep in for the rest of the day just to recharge all of the strength he had lost from lack of sleep since he arrived in Lilycove. Nobody was angry at him, they all treated him compassionately for all he did for them and they thought that he deserved a good rest. Kisu figured she could manage the rest of the day without Mr. Lucario-boy, though she had to admit… she sort of believed that Lancer was going to be up early in the morning cooking just so she would "Forgive" him. It was weird; he was acting like a samurai… so full of honor to the point where his own need to sleep fills him with shame.

Revisiting Lancer, the last name of Carmine filled him with confusion. He knew he heard the name Anystarys before… but where? The one thing he hoped was that it wasn't somebody from the revolution though he was sure it wasn't Carmine herself. She looked much too young to remember what was going on 21 years ago.

As he sat on his bed, preparing to crawl inside, Carmine walked into the room. "Hi Lancer." She greeted with an admirable blush, knowing that he saved her… she had much more of a positive first-impression on him… big enough that she wanted to talk to him alone, "I'm sorry but… something has been bugging me while we were eating breakfast." She said as she sat on the bed next to Lancer, her eyes focusing on the red carpet under them. The storm was still raging and lightning emitted a light through the one window in the room right above Lancer's bed.

"Hmm… what's on your mind?" Lancer asked. He had no idea what to expect even if he was supposed to be an expert in reading minds by body language… but the way she walked in the room… he didn't know what she wanted. Her last name was still bugging him… maybe what she was about to say may jog his memory. Or perhaps this was about something more current… maybe the envelope?

"I'm not trying to sound racist or judgmental or anything but…" she trailed off, gulped, then continued with a troubled look, "Have you ever known anybody else by the last name of Anystarys?" she held her breath.

Lancer knew what the logical answer was even if he didn't remember. The name was familiar… but he decided to say "No"… if he said yes… it could come back to bite him. First he needed to know why she wanted to know… then he might say yes. This was troubling him, Anystarys was too familiar but he felt as if he may have met him at the worst possible time… during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution.

"Oh… okay…" she said, a little relieved but a little sad at the same time.

"Why?"

"It's just that… during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution…" she stood up and began towards the door but stopped, "My father was killed by a Lucario… he was assassinated." She stepped out, trying to conceal her tears of sorrow.

Lancer couldn't help but wonder if he was the culprit though he knew for a fact he didn't want to be. During those days he was a completely different person… his morals were the same but he felt controlled by his family and the humans to do… god-awful things to people.

He crawled in the bed in which he was assigned to when he first arrived in the Kairet Inn and dozed off almost instantly with the name Anystarys floating around in his mind. Then… reality revealed itself in the form of a flashback… he had finally remembered where Anystarys came from… but the very thing he feared about that name was true. He was having a horror flashback from back in the days of the Anti-Pokemon Revolution.

**

The Anti-Pokemon Revolution, year 2098, Sinnoh Region: Veilstone city, 1:12am.

All Regions were experiencing the full war intensify around this year. To exterminate all Pokemon was the human government's sole purpose… but even though their hatred of Pokemon… they bought out a clan of Lucarios to help them out for they have heard that this clan was neutral in the war. They were known as the Riocynns… and Lancer was one of them, the deadliest one. By buying out the Riocynns, humans have turned those Lucarios on their Pokemon brethren and assigned them assassination missions. Akino Anystarys was the target Lancer was forced to execute.

With extreme hatred of humans and his family burning in his heart Lancer did what he was told. He hated the fact that his skills were only used for murder… he hated his entire family for being murderers… and he hated the humans for trying to annihilate an entire species to extinction, but he felt obligated to his duties… duties he never even wanted to accomplish. Back then… Lancer was known as just Lancer Riocynn, not the Ronin Mercenary… one of the many green-eyed Lucarios.

The green-eyes of the Riocynns struck fear into victim's hearts… they glowed in the dark and just made you feel like these were your final hours on Earth.

Even 21 years ago… Lancer was a Lucario, at an early age the Riocynns would force you to evolve even if you were not happy which was normally a requirement for Riolus. They began training him to be a cold-blooded killer when he was 4… and they forced him to evolve when he was 6. In the year 2098 of the Anti-Pokemon Revolution he was 16 years old.

Akino Anystarys, a Weavile, was making his way from a Point A to Point B straight to his office in the annexed town of Veilstone… taken from the humans. He took a shortcut through an alleyway in which the full moon's light could not reach. He had 6 Pokemon bodyguards, all Zangooses, for he was an Ambassador for the Kyrekesa Rebellion… the entire army of Pokemon and even a few humans who were against the Anti-Pokemon Revolution.

The 6 Zangooses were all in black cloaks while Akino was in a purple robe.

As they walked through the dank alleyway… wet from rain which had ceased around 2 hours earlier… they heard a voice from above them. "You must be the Kyrekesa Ambassador: Akino Anystarys…" a Lucario stood on a building above them, nothing but a black vest over his chest and a black bandana on his head which forced his ears downwind. His "Lucario dreadlocks" on the back of his head were tied together like a ponytail and he carried a Corinthian sword covered by a sheath on his belt. Lastly… he stood in front of the full moon; his green eyes glowed in the darkness of the shadows.

"Who… who are you?" Akino asked, slowly backing up behind his bodyguards, "Why do you need to know this?" the Lucario's green eyes froze Akino in his tracks… making him shake uncontrollably.

"I am Lancer Riocynn," by this time, everybody within sight gasped… a Riocynn… Akino's heart dropped, something about that tone of voice just assured his own death, "…And somebody wants you dead." Lancer finished. A drop of rain fell from the sky and landed on Akino's head.

"He's a Riocynn," one of the Zangooses said, "That means he relies completely on swordsmanship while we have elemental attacks…"

"A Riocynn… your clan betrayed the entire Pokemon race by accepting the human's offer!" the first Zangoose stated, "You're all disgraces!" Lancer noticed the Zangoose's mouth glowing yellow… he was preparing for a vertical flamethrower firing upwards. A second Zangoose moved up near the first and the last 4 backed up to protect Akino in a box formation.

Without hesitation, Lancer jumped off of the roof of the building he stood upon and dashed downwards, activating those Aura hands so he could grab his handle and unsheathe his sword. Another drop of rain fell with him… and before the first Zangoose realized it… he was already dead. The rain drop fell as the struck landed. Lancer as ripped the Zangoose in half with a vertical thrust of the sword, it stopped at the skull… so Lancer had to use his left hand to push it down further through the Zangoose's body. Blood fired everywhere, it was so unrealistic… it went all over the walls, all over the ground… and all over Lancer, "Aishakiri-Variety: Kunnesken-Aryou" meaning "The Vertical Sword".

The second Zangoose grunted as he tried to counter-attack while Lancer was supposedly recovering from the first strike… but he recovered faster than anybody he had ever fought before and like the speed of a bullet flying through the air… the second Zangoose was impaled with the Corinthian sword straight through the center of his ribcage. He ripped the sword out and kicked the second Zangoose to the floor.

"Alaroikis!" the third Zangoose cried out to the recently murdered in anger as he left the defensive box position with a huge gap to Akino's right, "Die Riocynn!" he roared with a quick attack that was registered with a quick attack of the Aishakiri-Variety. It almost looked like they went right through each other… but after a few seconds… the third Zangoose's stomach ripped open and spilled out his intestines.

"I… I… I can't afford to die here." Akino thought, shivering where he stood, "My… children..."

Lancer shook the blood of 3 Zangooses off his blade then menacingly ordered, "Step aside… I only want the Weavile." His green eyes, as they were rumored to, struck fear into their hearts… but they stood their ground, "Have it your way." Lancer muttered, a tear of sadness falling out of his unemotional eyes. The smell of blood became abundant.

"If I die here… who will take care of my children?" Akino thought.

The fourth Zangoose charged by himself only to have Akino and the remaining 2 Zangooses trying to talk him out of attacking to come back for defense… but before he even had a chance to listen to them or think up of an attack… Lancer disembodies both of his arms, shoved his sword through the Zangoose's skull, then ripped it out through the right hemisphere and took a stance which involved Lancer holding his sword in a stabbing position just after he shook off the fourth Zangoose's blood from his blade.

"No… I can't… who will take care of Kaito? Who will take care of Carmine? My wife is dead… there's no one else!"Akino began to hyperventilate as Lancer drew closer and closer to him, going through all of his guards.

It began to drizzle, the blood washed off from Lancer's body as he stated, "You two don't have to be here," he spoke to the remaining bodyguards, "Retreat…"

"Grr… fuck you, you mindless murderer!" both the fifth and sixth Zangoose roared simultaneously as they both left their post at Akino's side and charged, both using X-Scissor against Lancer's sword. They failed.

At the blink of an eye… the remaining two Zangoose's heads were disembodied, their bodies bluntly crashing to the floor while their heads rolled away from each other. By this time, the entire alleyway was bathed in Zangoose blood. Lancer pointed his sword at Akino with a deadly look on his face, blood still staining his entire body even with the rain, "You're next…" the moon emitted light right over Lancer but did not reach his body itself.

"I can't die on my children…" Akino thought, the fear in his heart suddenly fading away and turned into courage, "This is it… I can't die… my children need me!"

"What the hell is he talking about?" Lancer asked himself.

"Kaito! Carmine! I'm coming home!" Akino opened his mouth wide, preparing to yell something. He shut his eyes, got into a position… and chanted "Naraiis-Variety…!"

"No!" Lancer thought. The thought of this Weavile having his own special Variety unnerved him… he had never heard of the Naraiis-Variety and frankly… he didn't even let Akino show him what it did. The alleyway was slim, there was a small space for Lancer to dodge… so Lancer did the only logical thing… attack first.

By the time he yelled "Variety"… it was over. Lancer had appeared on the other side of Akino as if he had gone through him just like the third Zangoose, "No…" Akino whispered as his muscles ripped open and blood flew out of his stomach, turning his purple robe red… there was only one piece of his torso still hanging on to his pelvis… just a little flap of skin. The rest of his body fell out of place, an enormous amount of blood flowing around him, "Carmine… Kaito…" he whispered, somehow still able to talk even after being mostly sliced in half, "I'm… not coming home…"

The rain intensified to the point where nobody would be able to notice how much Lancer was crying over this. He knew what he was doing all along… but as much as he wanted to stop himself… he couldn't.

Lancer whipped his sword to the right, the blood slid off his sword and splattered all over the wall next to him. He then sheathed the sword but noticed figures at the end of the hallway. It was a Luxray… but Lancer was already gone before the Luxray could figure out just who exactly it was. The only bit of information he was able to give out for the assassination of Akino Anystarys was that the assassin was a Lucario.

Akino Anystarys… was Carmine's father. There was no way on Earth Lancer could tell Carmine that he was the one who murdered her one and only father. With this information, Lancer felt like he took a boulder off his shoulders and replaced it with an even bigger one… how could he keep a secret like this? He was her father's murderer… it was him…


	6. We've Been Compromised

Lilycove City: Security Command Center, 4:32am.

General Cyrus Brown had a look in his eye as he reviewed the pictures of Lancer in his terminal. He had that look of a man who would not rest until he figured out what he was going to do. He hadn't slept since Lancer arrived at Lilycove city, he would constantly receive reports from Volke Buchannan, the sniper assigned to watch over Lancer 24/7, but these reports were meaningless. Just petty housework and etcetera… this Lucario was either toying with everybody or just acting like a maid.

After the first few days without rest, the only sensible solution to Cyrus was that Lancer was putting up a show for the cameras… he must have known he was being watched… that must have been it… but remember… this is from the mind of Cyrus. Could it be that with these positive demeanor and helpful intentions… Lancer was secretly attempting to lure Cyrus into a false sense of security?

Suddenly… the phone rang.

Vaxrilla Aika, the Absolute Dictator of the Hoenn Region, personally gave Cyrus a call on account of the problem he reported to her about Lancer's arrival. Since she was the one who appointed Cyrus to be the General in control of Lilycove city, she wanted to make sure she didn't make a mistake in trusting him.

"Have you figured out if the Lucario is a Riocynn or not?" Aika asked over the phone, she sounded tired, as if she hadn't slept all night.

"Negative, it seems I… haven't gotten around to it yet." He lied.

"Well… tell me then…"

"Tell you what… Ms. Aika?"

"Why haven't you just sent somebody to convince him to leave?"

"With all due respect… don't you think that is a little too simple?"

"Sometimes simple plans can straighten out complicated situations… you don't even have to figure out if he's a Riocynn or just a Lucario with an eye color disorder or something of that category… just send somebody to make him leave."

"Yes ma'am…" Cyrus quickly agreed.

"Oh, and be sure to send a couple of Titans to make sure that the man you're sending is safe… just in case…"

"Yes ma'am…"

"Oh, and one more thing?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"I just remembered I had the perfect guy for the job. He may be ill-tempered, yes, but I'm sure he can get the job done… quietly. I would recommend trying to make him seem like a Government Official to… help with the persuasion. His number is 6-323-543-3233"

It was a short phone call but it was meaningful.

**

Lancer felt something out of the ordinary. He felt like shit, point blank, his muscles felt like ice… he could barely move. The sky above him was green with the clouds flying by as if time was fast-forwarding itself. The ground under him seemed to be disintegrating, little particles of grass and asphalt floated up to the sky as voices ran through Lancer's mind.

It was all incoherent, he could only tell that it was an argument between a man and a woman… then… everything went silent. He suddenly imagined himself in the Sinnoh Region, fighting off the Kyrekesa Rebellion with his allies at his side. Suddenly… he felt an extreme pressure on his right shoulder… this feeling… he had felt it once before… the first time a bullet penetrated his skin.

With that, a familiar voice screamed, a female voice… a motherly female voice. It sounded like Kayaji. But… why was she screaming? His visions were flashing through his mind in milliseconds… it was like his life was flashing before his eyes until it skipped to a man in a suit with a pistol aiming at him which led to that exact same bloodcurdling scream he heard a few seconds ago. Somehow… these visions led to Lancer seeing himself wander away from Lilycove city.

By that time Lancer had jumped up from his bed with dried up tears all over his face. Was he… crying? He wiped his face and just said to himself "Allergies…" he denied his own emotions because as a Riocynn… he must never cry. Even when his comrades died on the battlefield he never cried.

It was a shame; in his dream at least it wasn't still raining. He looked out the window to see the rain pelting against the asphalt outside and on the roof above him. Hey, at least he wasn't homeless.

There was nothing he could do about that dream he had… it might have been a vision but… what could he do about it? He just got up, made his bed, grabbed his sword by the sheathe, checked the clock to see that it was 5:00 in the morning, and went to see what was on the schedule for Tuesday breakfast. Slowly he made his way to the kitchen to avoid waking everybody up, but there was one Pokemon who was already awake; Carmine. She was in Kerrece and Nashi's room playing video games, as Lancer walked in he saw that Kerrece and Nashi were awake too… cheering Carmine on in the game.

"Good morning guys." Lancer sleepily greeted; yawning and stretching afterwards.

"LANCER!" Kerrece and Nashi screamed at the top of their lungs while Lancer braced himself for impact knowing that their way of saying "Hello" was a two-person tackle followed by hyperactive cubs running around with glee. They jumped on him but weren't able to knock him over this time.

"Ha! Looks like they really like you!" Carmine giggled turning away from her games for a moment, "That's so sweet." She was playing with a custom controller meant for Pokemon who didn't have fingers.

"What are you doing?" Lancer asked with the laughter of Kerrece and Nashi drowning out the volume of his voice.

"Just playing 'Brigadiers of War 3', you know, I'm surprised Kayaji would buy this game for these two, it's so fun but it's so violent!" she was right in front of the screen with a noticeable giddiness as if she was a child. The graphics were amazing… though Lancer wasn't a fan of video games and didn't know what was really good or really crappy… but that looked fantastic. Carmine was playing as a human in a special type of gear… but this gear looked familiar… too familiar.

As Kerrece and Nashi calmed down and got off of Lancer he picked up the game case lying on the floor. "Brigadiers of War 3", the front showed the shadow of a man standing upon a pile of dead bodies with a flag in his hands with the moon above him. He flipped the case over, "Brigadiers of War puts you right in the middle of the horrifying revolution between the Kyrekesa Rebellion and the Anti-Pokemon Force…"

Lancer couldn't believe what he was reading… this game was about the Anti-Pokemon Revolution?

"…Multiplayer allows you to play as veterans in either the Kyrekesa Rebellion or the Anti-Pokemon Force; also, as an added bonus, you can even create your own rebel or soldier."

Lancer looked at the TV screen to see that Carmine was playing as a female Kyrekesa Rebel in a 3rd Person Mode. Lancer was surprised and very intimidated by this game, they got the rebel detail down to the last scratch on their forehead… but they did it so well. This was what the Kyrekesa Rebels really looked like in the revolution, black cargo pants and red sweaters with knee and elbow pads and a biking helmet. It's a wonder how they actually won…

Carmine was playing in an online game; she kept putting up a list of her teammates and her enemies with "xxPwnStar7xx" and "gOtChA32", 2 players on her team, defeated. There were 6 people on each team and it seemed like the other team, which were the people playing as the Anti-Pokemon Force, were winning. Carmine made her soldier hide against a wall while 2 enemies fired their rifles at her, then she jumped out and charged towards a defensive point where her allies where only to have a recently thrown grenade blow up under her.

The details on the detonated body were disgusting and made Lancer wonder what Kayaji was thinking when she bought her kids this game. Lancer checked the rating which stated that it was M for Mature for: Blood and Gore, Strong Language, Strong Sexual Themes, Intense Violence, Drug Use, and Partial Nudity.

"Oh, that's bull…" she paused because she was trying not to curse in front of the kids, "…snip…" apparently there was no re-spawn a few seconds after death so she had to wait until the round was over, "Lag…" she said under her breath with a whiney gamer voice.

Her dad… her dad… her dad… keeping that secret was slowly tearing Lancer apart… he didn't want to have friends if there was a looming devastation hanging over them. He wanted to have only done good things for his friends… like Kisu. Personally, she has no reason to not like him… but with all of this propaganda opposing Lucarios… well… Lancer understood why she didn't trust him completely just yet.

He was going to play it cool for now and see how things go. Who knows, maybe he'll stop feeling guilty soon…

"Well," Lancer turned towards the doorway, "I'm going to start on breakfast…" just before he was gone, Carmine interrupted him with a couple of quick grunts indicating she wanted him to stay a little longer.

"Lancer, you're really new to Lilycove, aren't you?" Carmine said with that giddiness showing itself once more.

"How did you know I was new to Lilycove?" Lancer turned around.

"Oh, Kisu told me." the Anti-Pokemon Force playing against her had won the round and a short intermission had begun with a devastating song playing which hinted how the game designers thought about the revolution. In the background, a man began speaking "If this rebellion is going anywhere… my fellow loyalists… we must pick ourselves up and get back in that battlefield. Now, show them what you're made of!"

"Oh…" Lancer was actually more interested in the game now. That voice was familiar, the one speaking when the intermission continued for 10 seconds. It sounded like Ratio Oedepius, the leader of the Kyrekesa Rebellion, but how did they get his voice? Lancer would have believed they got somebody else to do the voice because a busy man like Ratio normally wouldn't waste his time on something like this.

Funny thing actually, Ratio wasn't really his name, Lancer never knew because he was too busy opposing Ratio but he heard his voice many times. "Ratio" was a codename.

Carmine was talking but he zoned out thinking about that voice then tried to make it seem like something was wrong so he wouldn't be scolded for not listening to Carmine even though he wasn't. He cringed, rubbed his forehead and asked, "Could you repeat that?"

"Weren't listening I see…"

"No no!" Lancer retaliated, "My head just hurts, I'm sorry."

"I was just saying that on Tuesday mornings we have cereal. You don't have to cook."

"Really? Well okay…" Lancer paused for a moment, his eyes shifting around the room to see that it was customized to fit Kerrece and Nashi. Half of the room was riddled with toys for boys and the other side had toys for girls. There was even a border of blue and pink, the blue side was Kerrece's side while the pink side was Nashi's side, then there was the TV which was right in the middle of that line which pretty much explained that it was for both of them to share.

Lancer was acting a little slow this morning. He was noticing everything after the fact. Seriously, he just noticed that half of the room was blue and half was pink? Maybe he was just stressed out from the guilt he was having about Carmine…

"Wanna try playing?" Carmine asked as the game ended with the Kyrekesa Rebellion victorious. Then, there it went again, Ratio Oedepius' voice "Today… was our day, rebels… today… was our day."

Lancer stuttered for a while, trying to think up of an excuse so he wouldn't have to… "I have that disease which makes it so I can't play video games…" seriously? That was all he could think of?

"Hehe… you could just say 'no'."

"…Right… sorry about that."

Before Carmine could pick up her controller and start playing again, the service bell down at the lobby rang which signaled that the person in charge of running the Inn, Kisu, was needed. She was seen a few seconds afterwards running down the hallway, hoping that this was a customer and not another homeless person asking for spare change.

Lancer, still trying to avoid eye-contact with Carmine, decided he would go down there as well to see what this commotion was about. He stood up and walked out without a word and told Kisu to hold the elevator for him.

Carmine sighed, not from relief but from confusion, "He doesn't like me… does he…?" she asked herself, adjusting the controller to fully benefit her game play, "Or maybe he's just avoiding me so he could get to Kisu…?" she didn't want to cause a problem or anything, she wanted to be friends with everybody in the Inn… but she just couldn't get Lancer to open up to her.

**

The person who rang the service bell was a Government official through stereotypical assumptions. He was in a gray suit and blue tie. Even if he looked all spiffy in that monkey suit, something about him made Lancer feel as if he was only impersonating a government official.

On the roof of the building overlooking the Kairet Inn was the sniper assigned to watch Lancer's every move, Volke Buchannan. He was just assigned to make sure nothing happened while the government man proceeded with his "mission". Volke had an eye on Lancer… and all of the others surrounding the Kairet Inn… yes… there was backup just in case things got… ugly. This was Cyrus' plan in motion. Apparently Volke was there to make sure that this negotiation would turn into violence before the man could call in the Titans… Titans, as in, the human military force of the Hoenn Region.

"Ma'am, I am here to warn you about the threat of Lucarios which may endanger you for what you are." He spoke directly to Kisu while hinting involvement from Lancer.

"Me? As a Gardevoir, you mean?"

"No, I meant as a carrier of one of his kind in your establishment."

"What was that…?" what that man just said was instantly taken as a prejudice remark. Why was this guy here? Was he just coming around to make Lancer feel like crap or to try proving some point? Whatever the reason… it was completely uncalled for.

"Whoa, don't you think…" Kisu took a deep breath, then continued while trying to show a small amount of respect to the government man because… well… he was from the government; "…you're being a little harsh?"

"Not at all, I am just here to assure your safety, ma'am… nothing more, nothing less."

"What kind of protection would that be?" Lancer asked in place of Kisu.

Kisu felt a disturbance between these two, both of their auras were at war, there was a… disturbing feeling creeping in the room. The G-Man looked at his watch, pulled out a napkin from his pocket, dabbed it over his forehead, and stuck it back inside. His brown eyes then reconnected with Kisu only, in fact, he didn't even bother to glance at Lancer, "I'll answer to the lady…" he said with a slight smirk.

"By all means…" Lancer wore a serious face, Kisu couldn't tell but apparently these two were having some sort of fight in their minds. The G-Man may have answered to Kisu just to avoid staring into Lancer's eyes.

"We could have a few mercenaries watching over this fine establishment to ensure that this unik…" Kisu gasped when the G-Man decided to use that word to describe Lancer, "…won't be causing any trouble…"

Unbelievable… his words were getting to Lancer. This was truly rare even if Kisu has known Lancer for a couple of days… but in the time she has known him… words didn't hurt him as much as a normal person. There was a large vein on Lancer's forehead as his eyes began to redden, "Sir… if you only came here to insult me… why don't you just get to the point?"

Kisu felt as if she needed to back away. This war going on between Lancer and the G-Man was becoming… too much for her mental stability to handle… it was almost as if the tension between them was affecting her. Lightning struck from outside as this ridiculously long storm continued a few days short of lasting an entire week.

Volke took this as a signal to sharpen his reflexes… he saw something coming and Lancer's life was hanging between Volke's finger and that trigger,

"You want me to get to the point, eh?"

"Certainly…" Lancer prepared for the worst that man had to say about him and his race in general.

The government man shooed Kisu away in a cocky fashion, not doubting for a second that she wouldn't leave, "How about we continue in private…?" Kisu walked to the elevator, pressed the button to go up to the second floor with a confused look, the door closed… then Lancer was by himself with the man. Kisu normally didn't put up with this kind of crap, but with his authority… there wasn't much she could do.

"Before we continue… who are you?"

"If you must know… I am Karl Terres, and don't you ever say my full name… fucking unik."

"Can you hear all this, General Brown?" Volke asked over radio communication.

"Negative, the Lucario is too far away." Cyrus responded, "He's just mumbling to me, I've been trying to adjust the volumes but that doesn't seem to be working, tell Karl to get closer!"

"Gah… Karl, get in closer!" Volke transferred the message, "The General can't hear you."

Karl stepped in closer; Lancer took that as a suspicious movement. To get in closer… could it mean he's trying something? Whatever it was, Lancer couldn't figure out why… the only thing that seemed to pop into his mind was that he was hiding something… but what?

"Fine… now tell me… what's this about?" Lancer was becoming irritated, one of the reasons was of course this man's extremely racist dialogue… the other reason was that he didn't even take the time to figure out that Lancer wasn't like the stereotyped Lucario.

"I'm all good here." Cyrus said, snickering at the thought of being able to sleep for the first time since Lancer arrived at the city.

"Your entire Lucario race is a steaming pile of shit which should be locked away underground where the innocent citizens won't be exposed to your vileness." He reached in his right pocket to reveal he was holstering a pistol… but he did not draw, in fact, he believed he was being stealthy enough to keep his hand right there without Lancer noticing the pistol. He was expecting Lancer to pounce on him… but his assumptions only led to seconds wasted standing there silently.

"Good job buttering him up for the kill, just try to keep it at a level where he won't attack you." Cyrus approved, recording this entire conversation.

"What? No snappy comeback, unik?"

"No… I believe I've had enough of this abuse. Why don't you take in your money and roll around in it, you greedy human?" that was probably one of the first insulting comebacks Lancer made against somebody during his time in Lilycove city. It was official, he was pissed. He was so pissed that he made an insult on humanity as a whole, their race and their biggest flaws. One of them… which he recently pointed out… was greed.

"Very funny…" Cyrus said over both Volke and Karl's headsets.

"How very observant… perhaps the human race is bathed in the need for greed… but you Pokemon… you things are merely a distraction from what we, as the human race, is trying to achieve."

"Are you even listening to what you're saying anymore?" Lancer asked.

"Yeah, Karl, are you?" Volke asked over radio communication, still with Lancer completely in his sights, "You're being too convincing with the whole 'Pretending to be an angry racist human' plan… seriously… cut back a little bit… you're setting him up for degradation!"

"Really? He's doing just fine as he is." Cyrus replied in defense for Karl, his deep, almost-always-angry voice silencing Volke.

"Fine… fine… I'll tell you what's happening…" Karl started, Volke could tell that this wasn't going to get better before it got worse by that look on his face, "I am here to tell you that you don't belong here… you get that, unik?!"

"Yo! Earth to Karl!" Volke intervened once more, "Just cut back with the racism, we're just trying to get him to leave, not drive him to beat the shit out of you!" Volke yelled, his loud voice piercing Karl's eardrums.

"Volke Buchannan! One more crack like that and you'll be court-marshaled!" Cyrus roared.

"What do you mean I don't belong here…?" Lancer patiently asked, trying to take this argument one step at a time.

Karl was starting to take long pauses due to the overlapping conversations he was having, Volke, Cyrus, and Lancer were all talking and now it was starting to get difficult to tell who was talking and who wasn't.

"You learned how to speak English from the STE Program, didn't you?" (Straight to English, used to teach Pokemon how to speak English) Karl chuckled, looking down upon Lancer as a pile of shit, "I mean… you… as a Lucario… shouldn't be here…"

"More segregation…?" Lancer retaliated, "Haven't you humans known that that path is idiotic?! Did the revolution teach you anything? Desegregation is the only road to peace in these still-troubled lands!"

"You have no fucking idea what you're talking about!" Karl yelled.

"Tell 'em, Karl!" Cyrus yelled.

"I should say the same about you…" Lancer faced the opposite direction, "Are you going to do something with that pistol of yours?" he asked, Karl gulped when he realized the sneakiness he believed he had achieved was compromised, "You walk into this Inn just to try talking me into leaving?"

"That was a bad idea there with that pistol." Volke muttered.

"You know why I'm here!" Karl yelled.

Lancer's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Had the government figured out who he was? Or was this man simply talking about how he was a Lucario and "inadequate"?

Karl let out a deviant smirk, it didn't fit him with the government-look, "You know why… Riocynn."

"God dammit!" Lancer screamed in his own mind, he felt a cold chill run down his spine and the feeling of faint befall him. Such a short time he was here without attracting the government's attention. "How… how did you know?"

"Holy crap!" Volke almost screamed, "Karl just tricked that Lucario into admitting he was a Riocynn…"

"He just said it, didn't he!" Cyrus almost jumped with glee. For some reason, after all of this time, it felt like he was the king of the world when he was right about Lancer.

"He did, General." Karl accidentally skipped through conversations.

"What the…" Lancer whispered to himself with Karl overhearing anyways.

Karl quickly changed the subject, "You shouldn't be so quick with revealing what you are… it's just not smart."

"Wait… what?!"

"That's right Riocynn, I believe I just revealed your identity even when I didn't know the full story myself… and since we're revealing some information now…" he pulled out the pistol he unsuccessfully concealed and aimed it at Lancer, "I'm not really with the government."

"Of course…" Volke muttered, "Way to lie to your supposed 'comrades'… fucking Karysans."

"Shit… he got me…" Lancer thought, "He must be wired, he said something about a General… damn it! I don't know how many people now know I'm a Riocynn… but my secret has finally been revealed…"

"You're lucky I haven't called the authorities on you yet… but since I'm such a nice guy…"

"Oh shut the fuck up…" Volke muttered.

"…I'll let you leave peacefully… or else this will turn ugly."

Lancer had already made up his mind, he was stubborn, and suddenly… he believed that Karl had no authority over him. The fact that he wasn't part of the government may have meant that he was just some racist punk coming to force Lancer out because he couldn't stand him living in Lilycove… well… at least that's how Lancer pictured the situation.

"I'm afraid I can't comply."

"What was that?!" Karl nearly had a childish tantrum.

"What authority do you have over me?"

"Okay… I was nice at first… but I don't need those stupid-ass Karysan officers getting in the way of this shit, Titans, get in here!" then, in just a few seconds, 7 armored soldiers stormed in the room, making as little noise as possible. Where were they hiding these men? Lancer couldn't even sense them outside.

All of these men looked exactly the same because their helmets covered their faces. The was more like a combination of steel and leather with the leather covering the joints and the steel covering everything else. They were all armed with SIG 556 rifles which they focused on Lancer as they surrounded him.

Titans did not exist during the revolution so Lancer just thought they were normal peacekeepers, but no, they were much more than that.

"So… still think I'm bluffing?"

"Okay… you have a mess of men at your side… what are you going to do with them?"

"They're going to help me persuade you to leave without having our bullets rip your meat apart…"

"Fine… then I'll use…" Lancer lifted up his paws, "These… to help me persuade you to let me live here… without any other problems… please… I just want to live here in peace. I may be a Riocynn, but I'm not like the others… believe me."

"That's too bad, we don't want you here, so why don't you just take your big, retarded, fucking origin and get the hell out of Lilycove city!"

"And by 'Origin'… you must mean…"

"Your. Goddamn. Inadequate. Lucario. Ass!"

"Of course…" Lancer sighed. This argument was apparently not going smoothly, Lancer really didn't want to leave… he just got here! He wanted to live in the Kairet Inn peacefully… and by changing his last name… he had hoped to achieve that since barely anybody knew Lancer by his real name during the revolution… they just called him a Riocynn.

"So… are you going to leave peacefully or is this going to have to get ugly?"

"First of all," Lancer started, "I would like to talk to a real authority figure about this problem… even if you uncovered that I am a Riocynn… I am not like the others."

"Bullshit, I don't even want to waste my time talking to him." Cyrus grumbled.

"Oh really?" Karl scoffed, referring to how Lancer told him he wasn't like other Riocynns, "Enlighten me."

"I am the Ronin Mercenary, the first Riocynn Lucario to ever go against the will of the Riocynn Overlord… I'm sure you have heard of me."

"You're a liar."

"Let me guess…"

"Yes, the Ronin Mercenary is dead, you're a liar."

"I expected as much, fine… I'll tell you right now that I faked my own death so my own family would stop sending my brothers to come and kill me… is that a good enough answer for you?"

"It doesn't make much sense either way."

"I'm sure you've heard of me, Karl… but after so many years… you guys really don't recognize me… don't you remember? The blue eyes?"

"I wouldn't remember you anyways… I always hated the Ronin Mercenary and I swear I had like… 7 chicks banging me at the same time from a celebration I threw out of the news of your supposed death… so if you're telling the truth," he cocked his pistol, "I hate you." He aimed at Lancer, "I've had enough, you see… I may be merciful sometimes… but now you're just annoying me… men, stand down, I think I can handle this meat."

"Wait a minute, Karl!" Cyrus cried.

"You wouldn't dare." Lancer roared, "For all you know, I could be lying about the Ronin Mercenary thing."

"Frankly, I really don't care if you are the Ronin Mercenary or not… I think I've had enough of this."

"You're not going to shoot at me…"

"Try me."

Lancer barely had time to respond but he was able to dodge the first bullet anyways but slightly shifting his head to the right. The loud blast nearly deafened Lancer, all he could hear was that high-pitch whining in his ears until the next blast came. He could see the bullet coming towards him; this was no time to be outraged about how Karl opened fire… now… he had to dodge for his life. Lancer quickly zipped to the left, his body movements just a blur of color to Karl.

This all happened to so quickly that Lancer just realized he was being shot at. He would have never guessed that Karl was so quick to pull the trigger… but that was his fault in believing that his opponent would announce his strike before he struck.

"Your bullets… have a 99% chance to miss…" Cyrus finished his warning.

**

Carmine was the first to hear the gunshots down in the lobby despite the loud gunfire of the 3rd person shooting game she was playing. Out of surprise she screamed "Holy shit balls of fire!" and leaped to the floor with her paws over her head, wondering where the gunfire was coming from and if it was focused towards her.

As Kisu heard that horrible sound… the horrible sound of a gun blasting bullets out of its barrel… she knew that Lancer and the man's argument resorted to violence. It took her a split second to decide whether to go down there or to cower upstairs… she decided to go to the 1st story. She ran to the elevator as fast as she could with Carmine still on the ground as she passed the room with Kerrece and Nashi sitting there, oblivious to what was going on.

"Oh my, oh my, oh my!" Kayaji worried as she strapped herself up to her wheelchair and rolled herself to the elevator door next to Kisu while she called out to Carmine to get over there quickly. Carmine blushed when she finally figured out that she hit the deck for no reason… sucks for her… apparently when she hit the carpeted floor she burned up her nose. Eh… she might as well worry about that later… right now… something was horribly wrong.

**

"You… you shot at me…" Lancer growled. He was furious that this man would stoop to such a level that he would let his blind anger force his finger upon that trigger and actually attempt to end Lancer's life. Blind racism followed by physical violence, this was precisely why the Anti-Pokemon Revolution began! Lancer was starting to see that the humans in this age haven't changed much from 21 years ago when the chaos of the revolution was still abundant.

Right at that moment, the elevator door dinged and everybody caught a glimpse of Karl with his pistol outstretched before him, smoke seeping out of the gun's barrel, "What the heck happened?!" Kisu yelled, pretending as if she was more furious about the two bullet holes in the wall.

"…Crap in a bucket!" Carmine squealed when she finally noticed the 7 Titans surrounding Lancer, "What the hell is going on?!"

"You're little friend annoyed the fuck out of me." Karl lied with a childish "Nyah-nyah-nya-nya-a-a…nyah" look. What a bitch.

"How dare you curse in front of my children!"

"Call me 'Karl' not 'You'… you fucking animal…" he cut Kayaji off.

"Ohh… he said a ba-a-d word…" Nashi said, for some reason, thinking that pointing out bad words means she smart.

"Hey!" Lancer yelled, having the loud, booming voice to silence everybody… even Karl, "Don't you talk to her like that!"

"God damn it you guys!" Kisu finally intervened, "You both should be ashamed of yourselves, see… this is the reason the revolution happened!" wait a second… why the hell is Lancer sharing the blame?

"Shut the fuck up, you fucking skank!" Karl snapped.

Lancer felt a punch to the gut from that comment. He had seen Kisu as such a good friend that when he insulted her… it hurt him as much as it hurt her… but neither of them snapped back.

"Hey! Stop cursing, mister!" Nashi retaliated.

"Hey… little Eevee… shut your little mouth or I swear I'll rip your little tail off! How do you like that?!"

Nashi backed off with a "What the heck, man?" look.

"First you try to kill Mr. Nassumek and now you insult Ms. Narraley and my daughter? You're just an immature man who uses his power to get whatever he wants."

"Heh, for one thing, I've already clarified to this unik that I'm not part of the government, I'm just here as a mercenary… and… Mr. Nassumek?" Karl laughed, "Apparently he's got all of you gullible dick-weeds over the barrel, shortly before you guys came to mess up the scene… he admitted that he was one of the feared Riocynns… and claims he's the Ronin Mercenary himself… which I believe is a little farfetched but whatever."

Kisu and Carmine were affected most by the thought of Lancer being a Riocynn, both of their eyes widened, Kisu began shivering. "A… Riocynn…? Lancer…?" she murmured, "That can't be, no, I've heard that all Riocynns are blood-thirsty beasts! Lancer can't be one of them!"

Lancer did not answer, a look of guilt flushed out his face. This entire situation was so un-orderly, so unorganized that Lancer didn't know what was going to happen next. It was already revealed to that he was a Riocynn… and now they know he's the Ronin Mercenary? What was happening? Lancer was afraid of what was going to happen, was he going to be arrested here? Was he going to be banished? Killed? He just wanted to stay in the Kairet Inn and live a peaceful life… but apparently the government of Lilycove city wasn't going to let that happen.

"Okay Riocynn," Karl started, "I'll give you just one more chance… leave now or…" he aimed his pistol at Kayaji, "Someone here is going to die."

"Kayaji!" Kisu screamed.

"Oh man…" Carmine muttered.

"Mom!" both Kerrece and Nashi screamed in fear.

"Are you crazy?!" Volke yelled over Karl's headpiece as well as Cyrus who just let out a surprised grunt.

"I've given you the right to kill them but do you think that's really necessary?" Cyrus asked. Either way, he didn't care what it took to rid the city of Lancer, but mostly he was annoyed at the fact that they were going to have to go through that long and annoying process of having a funeral, burying the body or having it cremated… blah, blah, blah…

"Karl, don't you dare!" Lancer roared, finally, a look of pure rage on his face.

Kayaji whimpered in place, knowing she didn't have the reflexes to actually dodge a bullet especially in that wheelchair of hers.

"Come on now… tell me you're going to leave and she lives."

"Karl, please, I just want to live a peaceful life here!" a tear dropped out of Lancer's left eye, "Why can't you understand that?!" as that tear hit the floor, it began to let out steam. All of the liquids in Lancer's body were increasing to a dangerous temperature. He wasn't crying out of hopelessness… that tear just fell out of his eyes from the pressure of the unnatural heat building within him.

"I just don't give a fuck."

"Damn it, what is he going to do?!" Carmine thought, "There's no way I can intervene… I can't dodge bullets and I'm pretty sure Lancer may be the only one here who can… damn it!"

"What's it going to be, unik?!"

"Karl, think about what you're doing!" Lancer pleaded, "Was your mission really to murder somebody just to make me leave this city?"

"My assigner told me to make you leave at all costs… he also said I could kill you if you don't cooperate but I think I'll make myself out as a negotiator rather than a murderer, don't you think?"

Cyrus groaned when Karl said "Assigner".

"You're a fool." Kayaji broke through her fear with that gun aiming directly at here, "You're just a complete fool."

"What was that?" Karl growled.

"Kayaji, don't!" Lancer yelled.

"Here you want to be known as a negotiator and you're threatening to murder me instead of Lancer? And you think that'll make people think you're good at negotiating? Your plans are way too vague and pointless to even be executed by these government forces."

"Hah, okay that's it."

He slowly forced his finger on the trigger which caused everybody to gasp, excluding the Titans. What happened next… Lancer couldn't stop. Karl really went through with it and fired his gun, the smoke exploding out of the barrel with the bullet soaring through the air… and straight into Kayaji's right shoulder. The bullet ripped through her muscle, blood splattered all over the ground next to her, and a look of unbearable pain befell her. Her long, Glaceon ears shot up as well as her tail and blue fur. That cold feeling she always felt due to her type suddenly reverted to heat… heat that was given off from the pain she felt.

Her eyes rolled back and her mouth ripped open with her fangs showing completely while she let out a bloodcurdling scream. The wheelchair rattled as she hit the floor, grabbing her wounded area with her opposing paw, whimpering like a baby.

"Kayaji!" everybody except for Lancer screamed. Lancer couldn't believe it, Karl was sent to do this mission… and he really resorted to shooting innocent Pokemon just to make him leave? In fact… he wasn't even sure Kayaji was just plain hurt… this was a bad wound… he didn't know what was going to happen to her. Lancer froze up… this human would really go through such lengths just to make him leave?

Kerrece and Nashi cuddled against their mother, helplessly crying. It was as if her pain was their pain as well… and in the short time Lancer has known Kayaji… he felt a pain in his right shoulder as well. He remembered that feeling too well, that extreme pressure followed by the feeling of faint.

That bloodcurdling scream… that feeling… it was the vision he had… that was his nightmare.


	7. Post Revolutionary Paranoia

Rage began growing within Lancer, this horrible… uncontrollable rage. Everything blurred out as he witnessed one of his few friends being shot in the shoulder, Kayaji. Her blood soaked the red carpet, almost camouflaged but still noticeable. His parents and fellow Riocynn's faces began popping up in his head, the terrible things they made him do, how he was a part of the attempted annihilation of the Pokemon race just so his family could get their own country within the Hoenn Region… and to make their own government. How did they not see that the government was just going to use them and then dispose of them when they got what they wanted?

His parents never taught him how to control anger but only how to sever heads. His peaceful nature was only derived from his obliviousness to how to cope with other emotions. He could only be care-free or furious… normally not anything in between. During the revolution, he was furious that his parents would send him to commit such degrading deeds, he was furious that he was fighting against the greater good, he was furious that he was fighting for a bunch of racist humans! But even with all of that anger… he still completed the tasks given to him. Now… without a care in the world… he travelled to Lilycove after faking his death to stop his family from continuing their hunt for him for 17 years… he heard that Lilycove was a peaceful place to live so that caught his eye instantly.

He wished he could keep his peaceful attitude… but it seemed that people were right… the revolution didn't stop anything… it only encouraged the humans. Lancer could see it coming, a wave of fire sweeping over regions… engulfing as many Pokemon as it can… and when the Pokemon yell for the humans to rescue them… the humans turn away and reply "Forget you".

Was this another vision? It wasn't explained yet but Lancer could see it coming… he just hoped he was wrong.

This pain and anger began surging through Lancer's body as Kayaji's whimpering grew louder in his ears. Soon… it resembled the whimpers of most of his female victims during the revolution, those poor souls who were given a death sentence in the form of a contract. No matter what he was called, Lancer was everything. He served in battles, assassinations, raids, defending targets, and he was even was used as an undercover agent. This amount of experience forced Lancer to be able to kill anybody with great ease… but only if he was provoked. During the revolution, the name "Riocynn" was feared and spit on by many, but Lancer didn't understand why during the early years of his life.

By that time, Kisu rushed to Kayaji's aid, she pulled out tweezers and a large cloth from behind her desk and started to pull the bullet out. Kayaji sat there and took the pain to the best of her tolerance.

Lancer felt a deep pain watching Kayaji like this… his background may have cost the life of her. This fury and pain he was feeling finally exploded into a wave of aura, knocking everybody over as Lancer's unnaturally blue eyes shifted down to dark blue… black… white… gray… then finally… green, the eye-color of the stereotyped Riocynn. It happened so abruptly, Lancer's increasing anger didn't hold itself out for long. Kisu held on to Kayaji so the tweezers wouldn't dig into her any further as the wave of aura flushed everybody out.

Her mind was racing between all of this, she still could not grasp the fact that they accused him of being a Riocynn… she didn't want to believe that Lancer admitted to it but when all of that aura exploded its way out of Lancer's body without harming him like that plus the fact that his eyes had turned green… she didn't know what to believe.

"What in the name of hell?" Volke stared at Lancer through his sniper scope; he looked like he had combusted into blue flames. This was like nothing he had ever seen… well… at least he had seen things like this on cliché TV shows… but never saw a real Pokemon do it, "Cyrus… I think we may have a problem." He said with the noticeable alteration of his voice from that mixture of surprise and fear he was experiencing.

"Does it revolve around that noise I just heard? Visual and vocal transmission was blocked out… I can't get a read on anything" Cyrus asked safely from the Security Command Center, having reinforcement troops on stand-by just in case this became too much for Karl Terres and those 7 Titans to handle.

"Yes, sir." Volke and Karl replied at the same time, Karl on the floor with his pistol a few feet away from him. He dropped it when that wave of aura crashed into him. It was like a 400 pound man lunging at you and knocking all of his weight against your body… it was a weird feeling to be knocked down by aura itself.

Carmine let out a sigh of anticipation, "Okay, that may be really out-of-character for Lancer," she gave out an excited smile, "But that was freaking awesome!" she jumped back up before anybody else had a chance. It was obvious that the Titans were having problems with that with their mostly-metallic and partially-leather gear but they managed to get back up.

Kisu had finally pulled the bullet out of Kayaji's right shoulder, paused, then looked up at Lancer. She felt pushed away by Lancer's "Transformation" emotionally. That Lucario she knew and thought of as a close friend turned into this… killing machine? "Wait a minute!" Kisu screamed, speaking directly to Karl, "What's going on here? I heard you say you wanted Lancer to leave, why?!" funny… that finally got to her.

"I don't have the time to explain it to you, bitch!" Karl responded, trying to keep his voice over that wind-like howling originating from the aura. He crawled over to his gun, picked it up, then continued in his thoughts, "Since he revealed he is a Riocynn… now I think I know what to expect from this… it's just that I've never seen a Riocynn burst into a living generator of aura… what's going on?" he pondered, "The Riocynns are famous for being the only Sentinels to use aura to double their fighting skills, but what kind of aura is this? It was able to push me down like I am nothing!"

Sentinels are Pokemon who aren't entitled to the use of "Pokemon Power" or "PP". They can't use their energy to form up elemental strikes such as Lightning Bolt, Thunder, Ice Beam, Blizzard, Flamethrower, Fireblast, Leaf Storm, Giga Drain… etcetera. They can't even use strategic abilities such as Sandstorm, Hail, Rainy Day, Clear Body, Cute Charm… etcetera. Sentinels are Pokemon who rely on either unarmed attacks such as fists… or paws… long range methods of attacks such as using custom guns depending on their race… or swordsmanship… where the Pokemon learns a "Variety" which will be a type of swordsmanship or melee attack that revolves around… you know… swordsmanship or melee.

Lancer was a Sentinel.

Kisu wrapped the large cloth over Kayaji's wound and tightened it.

Cyrus was finally able to receive a transmission from Karl, "Karl, put me on the hologram projector before I lose connection again!" Cyrus ordered, hoping he could talk some sense into Lancer before he went "Riocynn" on all their asses.

"Uh… yes sir!" Karl obeyed, curled up his sleeve, and activated the contraption around his wrist which was given to him before his mission started. He stared at the multitude of buttons and stressed over which one to press, "Which one?!"

"Press the blue one all the way to the left!"

As Karl pushed the button, a hologram-communication with the camera in front of Cyrus' terminal shone from a small projector on the wrist-device. Karl aimed it at the blank wall behind him so Lancer could get a perfect view of Cyrus. His green eyes focused on the projected image of the General, he then growled with animal-like instincts, grinded his teeth together, and roared, "Who are you?!"

"Ah!" Kisu gasped. That voice… it didn't sound like Lancer at all. His collective tone suddenly turned deep and menacing. He didn't sound demonic, he sounded like a normal person except his voice seemed to have gotten much deeper. Kisu didn't know what was happening… just this morning Lancer was her guest who was pretty much her assistant by choice… now… he's combusted into these blue fires of power with his blue eyes an even more unnatural green for a Lucario such as himself. A tear dropped out of her eye, Carmine noticed it before it even hit the floor.

"Are you okay, Kisu?" she asked, making no eye contact with her. Kisu didn't answer.

"I'm General Cyrus Brown, the man who assigned Karl Terres to try and make you leave… with prejudice and racial comments."

"Wow… flashy introduction, General." Volke said when he temporarily shut off his headset, "What a great impression to make." He continued looking through his scope, aiming directly at Lancer and waiting for a signal or an order to open fire.

"Why?!" Lancer's eyes dilated, "Why can't I stay here?!" Lancer's knees bumped against the carpet, that blue aura flame not harming the carpet in any way, "My spirit has been dormant… I've tried to make real friends that don't kill just for fun… I want to meet a contractor that doesn't just want the people who oppose him or her to die! I want to be good!"

"I assume you are referring to your Riocynn family and the humans of the Anti-Pokemon Force?"

"Yes!" Lancer admitted it, he was a Riocynn, he truly didn't care anymore… apparently the government here was hell-bent on forcing every bit of patience out of him. That calm, peaceful Lucario he portrayed himself to be… that wasn't him. It never was. That could never be his true demeanor after all he has been through, after all he has seen!

"Lancer…" Kisu whispered, "No… you… you just can't be one of the Riocynns!" she knew it was true from all of the evidence that has been handed to her, but she chose not to believe it… she wanted to see Lancer as that sweet Lucario who tried his best to help her out during her time of need… not one of those Riocynns who helped the humans eradicate so many Pokemon during the revolution.

She never knew about the Ronin Mercenary, the Aishakiri-Variety, or about the whole "Green eyes, blue eyes" thing. She was born right when the revolution ended, 21 years. She soon realized Lancer didn't come here just to atone for whatever sins he committed… no… he was running away from somebody or something. She could tell by that look in his eyes… the scary part is… she was right.

Lancer didn't want to kill just because somebody gave him a contract, no, he wanted to kill the people who deserved to die, he never stopped killing indefinitely… but… a few years after the revolution ended, Lancer managed to run away from the Riocynns in favor to work for somebody who had good intentions. He was only able to do so much until they sent his own brother after him… and then… he pretended to die at his brother's hands. Communication with the Ronin Mercenary was cut off that day… and people started to forget who he was. 17 years he was gone… 17 years in who-knows-where.

"I'm sorry, Lancer Riocynn." Cyrus didn't seem to have given Lancer a sincere apology, but he was building up for something else he had to say, "Truth be told… for a second, I didn't care if you were Riocynn or not, I just wanted you out of this city because I didn't want to go through the trouble of finding out." He said, "But now that I know… I'm afraid I can't let you escape, for you see… I've dedicated almost 16 years to find and kill all remaining Riocynns."

"What?!" Carmine and Kisu screamed.

"Lancer!" Kerrece and Nashi screamed simultaneously.

"No…" Kayaji whispered, the pain from her bullet wound increasing with each passing breath. Kisu comforted her even with her fear of Lancer increasing dramatically.

"What? Now I don't even have the option to leave?" Lancer responded.

"I'm afraid you don't; now there's nothing left to stop my men from killing you…" Cyrus sighed, "End this."

"Look, Karl and the men you assigned him with don't stand a chance!" Lancer yelled with that furious, deep voice, "Since I'm not welcomed here… I might as well be leaving, don't try to stop me."

"Lancer… don't…" Kisu said under her breath, torn up by this entire situation, "Don't… leave…"

"I beg to differ," Cyrus retaliated against Lancer's comeback, "The Titans of this modern age are like gods compared to the weak APF soldiers you fought back in the day…"

"Damn straight!" One of the Titans cheered.

"…I'm afraid you are the one who is outmatched; I'd rather leave than kill all of these men." The blue flames rose up higher from Lancer's body.

"You make me laugh, Lancer."

"So… why aren't you laughing?" Nashi asked, her left ear twitching while Kayaji seemed to have been coping with the pain enough to try and tell her kids she was going to be alright.

Everybody drew a silent pause from Nashi's comment, the windy noise the blue fire engulfing Lancer made was the only noise to be heard, "Well… if you said 'You make me laugh' I kinda thought…"

"Well, I digress," Cyrus said, "There is no way I am letting you leave here now that I know you are a Riocynn."

"Ooh… you bastard…" Lancer chuckled; he was finally able to comprehend exactly why Cyrus was acting so disorderly.

"What did you say?"

"I figured out what is going on here." Lancer's green eyes stared right at the hologram of Cyrus sitting at his desk, "You were afraid that the Dictator of the Hoenn Region would be disappointed in your lack of security against a Riocynn, by letting me into your city… you let a potential threat inside… so you made it seem that you guys just didn't want me here and tried to drive me away without bringing any attention to yourself."

"There's one flaw in your theory." Cyrus responded before Lancer had time to finish.

"Oh? And what would that be?"

"Vaxrilla Aika believed you were a Riocynn herself."

"Oh, I've already covered that."

"What?"

"If you forced me to leave, you were going to turn around and tell Vaxrilla that I wasn't a Riocynn so you could make it seem like you didn't make a security error, now, if you killed me… you would just say I had an 'accident' or died of some disease before you even had a chance to get here… am I right? Is this why you are trying to be as 'stealthy' as possible?" Cyrus' face showed devastation, Lancer saw right through his plan… but how? Cyrus suddenly became silent, Karl and Volke were surprised. "…You make me sick… I'm leaving either way, and you're not stopping me."

"Lancer!" Kisu screamed as she jumped up, ran towards him, and threw her arms around his waist with her head burying itself in his blue cloak. The blue flames had no physical effect on her, it was just swirling energy, it only made her feel slightly disoriented, "Stop this… please!" she pleaded, tears rushing out of her eyes, flooding her face so quickly that Lancer nearly believed she had stepped out in the rain.

"Aw, isn't that sweet." Karl said before Lancer had time to say anything himself, he deactivated the hologram of Cyrus and aimed his pistol at Carmine this time, "Break it up or this Weavile gets a bullet in her brain." Carmine backed off a bit too fast and ended up slipping on the carpet, landing flat on her back. She uttered separate words; she was speechless with fear then was finally able to yell "No!"

"Hey!" Lancer roared, getting everybody's attention, "Karl… I swear if you shoot her… I'll make sure you won't even have a soul left!" his energy levels were now fluctuating, Kisu could feel it. She wanted him to stop all of this, but if he stopped… they would kill him… if he didn't stop… he could save his and Carmine's life but also take the lives of those 7 Titans and Karl… and then… leave her. She couldn't tell him what or what not to do… it was like she felt his pain… the pain of having to make a choice which would inevitably end up in somebody's life being taken.

"Tick, tick, tickety… time's running out," Karl teased, "Now your options have changed…I'm giving you 10 seconds to either: Stand down and face your death, or I'm shooting this Weavile in the face. I'm not giving any mercy like I did with that Glaceon!" the 7 Titans stood at attention, letting Karl do all of the work. They were only there to make sure that Lancer didn't try attacking Karl.

Carmine knew she wasn't fast enough to dodge the bullet, she wanted to live but she didn't want Lancer to die. She had no idea how this was going to turn out, but she just prayed that it would end with both of their lives being spared.

"Karl!" Lancer yelled, his body heat and energy levels skyrocketing, "As I said before… shoot at her… and you'll be 40 different kinds of dead!"

"Tick, tick, tickety." Karl mocked with a sing-song voice, not even having the decency to give Lancer the correct timing, "Come on now, unik, make your decision."

Lancer, instead of answering, let out a long, drawn out yell of pain and fury; it rattled the windows and was as loud as a tank releasing a shell from its barrel. His face slowly lowered itself, his eyes bulging out of its sockets, his pupils dilating… portraying his menacing green eyes as just a slimmed-down ring. His face darkened, and his fur stood up on end. Kisu let go of Lancer and grabbed her ears, frightened to the point where she backed away from him.

"Time's up!" Karl triumphantly yelled as he pulled the trigger quicker than when he shot Kayaji. The bullet raced out of the barrel in a puff of fire and smoke… and its destination… was right between Carmine's eyes. Lancer was already in movement.

The aura surged around both of his paws and created those human-like aura hands as he unsheathed his sword to reveal that it had been engulfed in a bright, heavenly white light from the aura around him. There was so much energy that it was actually able to alter his weapon's appearance.

Lancer was moving so fast that he was able to see the bullet slowly making its way to Carmine. Easy enough, he was prepared to deflect it with his sword. He jumped in the way, edged his sword behind him and prepared to whack it off like he was playing baseball, took a swing… but something was wrong. He didn't feel the weight of the bullet crash against his sword… no… but it was too late… after that one flaw that bullet was already in his left arm. He didn't want to believe it but when he looked at the origin of pain… he saw his blood seep out as the bullet went in. All Karl and Carmine were able to see was a flash of blue light then Lancer on his knees as his sword bumped against the carpet, he was now defenseless.

There was another way to save Carmine, yes, but it was even more risky than deflecting the bullet. You see, at that speed, Lancer is unable to be seen with the human eye… if he were to grab Carmine while maintaining that speed… he could cause some fatal damage to her, for example: He could have broken her neck.

This was the second time a bullet had penetrated his skin… and the worst part was… he made the exact same mistake as he did in the revolution… he only skinned the bottom part of the bullet off.

"Idiot," Karl said, "See what happens when you try helping people? It only ends up biting you in the ass, am I right, unik?"

Lancer hit the floor with his hands putting pressure on his wound. This pain was terrible, and after so long of only feeling minor pains such as cuts and bruises… this was a real wake-up call.

"Lancer!" everybody excluding the Titans and Karl screamed, but, one of their voices sounded weak. Kayaji suddenly started losing more blood… too much blood. It just started bursting out of her shoulder, soaking up the bandage Kisu wrapped around it until it tore apart on its own.

"Kerrece… Nashi…" Kayaji whispered, but they couldn't hear her. In fact, everybody thought Kayaji was able to push her pain aside until they were able to get a paramedic in so they didn't even pay attention to her when Lancer was shot. She tried to speak loud enough so they could hear her… but out of nowhere… she had no more energy left. All of that blood that rushed out of her shoulder at once… it took all of her remaining energy with her. Her body was not used to this kind of abuse, the first and only abuse it had ever tolerated was when she became crippled in the hind legs.

"Let's keep him alive just for the moment," Karl ordered, "Kick the crap out of him until I say stop, you guys got that?"

"With pleasure, sir." One of the Titans snickered behind that metal helmet of his as they all ganged up on Lancer without even thinking about watching Kerrece, Nashi, Carmine, Kisu, or Kayaji. To them, they were no threat what-so-ever.

Inhumanely they stomped, kicked, punched, and whacked Lancer around on the floor with his only defense reverting to curling up into a fetal position. Seeing all 7 of those men pummel Lancer into the floor was too much for anybody to see, Carmine covered both Kerrece and Nashi's eyes as they both cried "Stop it!!"

Kayaji, with her last breath coming up, crawled to her children, nudged Carmine out of the way, grabbed them both with her front paws, and whispered, "Kids… kids… don't you ever judge all humans by what these humans did here today…" Kisu turned around to see Kayaji's bandage ripped apart, there was a huge puddle of blood around her… too much blood for her to keep going after this, "I… I love you…" it was so abrupt, but her body was unable to take that sort of abuse. In a matter of a few minutes, even with minor medical assistance; Kayaji was dead. Her grip on her children died down, her eyes slowly shut, her heart halted, and she breathed her last breath.

"Mom?" the kids were oblivious to what had happened, "Mom?!" they refused to believe she was dead, judging by how much damage she took when she first became a paraplegic… they thought she could live through so much… but for her to die like that was just unbelievable to them.

"Damn it!" Carmine yelled as she flipped Kayaji over on her back and tried to feel for a pulse… no luck. Even with the short amount of time she knew Kayaji… she felt this horrible sadness in the pit of her stomach… it was like she was going to throw up, "She's… no!" Carmine, during the early years of her life, took a basic medical class and the only thing she managed to remember was Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR). She wanted to see the look on Kayaji's children's faces if she was able to revive her… she just wanted to see a spark of joy come back to those sweet kids… but even as she tried CPR… she couldn't see Kayaji coming back from the dead.

Kisu turned back around and yelled "Lancer!" as Karl ordered the Titans to cease their attack. He mustered enough strength to lift Lancer up by the shoulders. Blood seeped out of his mouth, his face was bruised up in 11 areas, and it looked like one of the soldiers sliced up a bit of Lancer's left ear. The area around his bullet wound was soaked in blood and by the time Karl picked him up… his cloak had slipped off, revealing all of the scars around his chest.

"There is only one thing I despise more than a Lucario," Karl started as she kneed Lancer in the stomach, listening carefully for that grunt of pain, "…It's a person who thinks he's noble even if he committed crimes in his past!" he punched Lancer in the face 3 times, let him drop to the floor, then mashed his foot in Lancer's stomach twice.

Lancer's friends could only watch.

Karl then jumped off of Lancer just to see him squirm and try to crawl over to his sword, but right before he was able to grab it… Karl stomped on his paw, cutting off the flow of energy which led to the disappearance of Lancer's aura hand, "That's all you are Riocynn, that's all you Sentinels are… you rely on your weapons… and maybe even your melee skills, but when you don't have either it's just 'retreat' now, ain't it?" Karl snickered as he borrowed one of the Titan's shotguns, "Now…" he began as Lancer coughed up blood, "I'll cut you a break, I'll kill the rest of these Pokemon after I kill you… just so you won't have to watch them die."

Lancer's eyes widened while everybody else except the Titans gasped in fear.

"Yeah… since they're all witnesses… I might as well eliminate them… and since there are like… no citizens wandering the streets with this long-ass storm going on… I'm sure these will be the only witnesses." He pumped the shotgun and shoved it in Lancer's mouth just before he had a chance to say anything.

"Good thinking, Karl." Cyrus said.

"Evil bastard…" Volke muttered, turning off his headset momentarily once more.

"Lancer!" Kisu hit the floor as she tried to reach out and save him… but she was too weak to do anything. Those words rung in her head… Too. Weak. To. Do. Anything.

"Die, Riocynn!" Karl pulled the trigger.


	8. The Ronin Mercenary

Adrenaline raged from within Lancer at his final moments. His brain had produced endorphins, his metabolism slowed down and his entire body has gone into its survival mode similar to human function. The blue flames coursing around Lancer had ceased and all of his energy was sent to his brain which, right as Karl roared "Die Riocynn," drastically decreased the intense speed in which everything was occurring at. Time had stopped for Lancer. He could only feel the cold metal of the shotgun barrel against his tongue when Karl shoved it in his mouth.

Lancer could see every detail on Karl's face, the wrinkles produced as his mouth stretched out. The redness of his cheeks as blood flowed, the vein on the upper right side of his forehead, the gray G-Man suit wrinkled up, arm-pit stains. His brown eyes revealed a man who showed a past grudge against Pokemon, maybe even to sum it down, a Lucario… which so many people have problems with. Lancer's mind raced, even as one second didn't pass… he was thinking at a normal pace.

So many people's lives have been uprooted from the devastating power of the supreme Sentinels: The Riocynns. "Where did it all go wrong?" was the question that kept begging Lancer for an answer. Slowly, his vision faded out into a sea of white… everything had blurred out and familiar voices overlapped in conversations. He kept hearing things like: An assassin must be… training prevents… the green-eyes shows the world… to be the grim reaper himself…" The only sentence he could make out from all of that commotion was "…early on you must have friends so you may have a taste of normal living… but we don't live normally… soon… you must teach yourself to cut loose from your need for companionship… or else… it will only spell your downfall."

33 Years Earlier…

The very first thing he felt was a painful sting in his arm. It was the drug "Equal Age" which allows Pokemon to age similarly to humans. He was confused and oblivious to what was happening until the white light faded into complete darkness.

Lancer was having a flashback to when he was 4 years old, the happy, oblivious little Riolu he once was… back when his eye color had yet to be decided by the role he was going to take in life… therefore… his eyes were the natural color for Riolus: Red. He was kept at the hospital for 4 years for health purposes, but after those 4 long years finally ended, Lancer was taken underground.

Somebody was holding him, a Lucario. He was carried through a dark and damp tunnel straight to a door with glowing green marks marked all over it like graffiti. Then, the Lucario holding Lancer spoke. "This is your new home." Lancer remembered that voice, it was unmistakable, it was his father, Victor Riocynn, "Get used to it. You won't be seeing daylight again for a long time… so… I hope you enjoyed it while you could."

He set Lancer down near the door; bit himself to let his blood seep down his right paw. He then smeared it all over the wall and roared "Skenova Alternon carichys!"

The glowing green graffiti died down as a ghostly voice responded in a whisper, "Skenova Alternon naryvys." Lancer's father had commanded the door to open with his chant in the Pokemon language… the door… apparently… accepted the order with a tribute of his blood. To enter Skenova Alternon, Riocynns were obligated to offer their blood for security purposes.

This was the first time Lancer had stepped foot in Skenova Alternon… it was a shame that back at the time… it just seemed like an ordinary moment. He had no idea what was in store for him behind the ghostly door of… Skenova Alternon.

32 Years Earlier…

It was Lancer's second time outside and was Lancer's first time ever seeing any other Pokemon other than Lucarios or Riolus. There were two Pokemon about his age with him, a Chikorita and a Vulpix. He and those two other Pokemon were on a beach.

There was somebody else there though; a tall figure sitting on a bench near them with a sheathed sword strapped to his back… his 15 year old brother, Isaac Riocynn. There weren't many Pokemon or humans at the beach, just Lancer, the female Chikorita which he remembered was named Leslie and the female Vulpix which he remembered was named Ember, a girl as well. Lancer could remember his childish laughing, unaware of how cruel the world could be even if 32 years ago… there was no war.

Lancer and Ember were creating a large sand castle around Leslie to see if the castle could defend her against the incoming waves. Their giddy behavior didn't amuse Isaac at all; Lancer could see it even if he was only 4 years old. He thought Isaac was the most boring Riocynn ever, Lucien, younger than Isaac but older than Lancer at the age of 10, was more fun to play with… but he was barely ever around. His sister, Reiko, was about Lancer's age, 5, but she was also never around… he always wondered why.

All of the Lucarios and Riolus of the Riocynn clan were related to one another, but, since their numbers were increasing… they were divided into individual families even if they were all closely related… with emphasis on "closely". Lancer's family was devised of his father Victor, his mother Violet, his 15 year old brother Isaac, his 10 year old brother Lucien, and his 5 year old sister Reiko.

The waves kept coming closer and closer to the sand barrier defending Leslie, she whimpered and giggled at the same time in anticipation, in her short life, this was the most exciting thing that has ever happened to her. Lancer and Ember uncoordinatedly ran to grab some soft, wet sand to strengthen the barriers defense, then, Ember tripped and slid towards the water with her face dragging against the wet sand. The waves then came up and washed her off but were high enough to completely cover her body. Lancer thought the waves might carry her away. He ran towards the water and called out "Ember!" with that young, high-pitched voice of his.

Slowly she emerged from the water behind Lancer with a devious look then pounced on top of him. They both innocently giggled until Leslie called out "Look out!" Lancer and Ember looked up to see a huge wave hovering over them. They instinctively let out mortified gasps then tried to run away but ended up crashing into each other while the water rushed over them and crashed into the barrier surrounding Leslie; annihilating it.

There was a moment of silence as the water rushed back into the ocean, then, their laughter destroyed that silence. To them, that was hilarious… easily amused… like young, oblivious toddlers, "That was really fun!" Leslie giggled, "You make up really, really, really fun games, Lancer!"

"Thanks a lot!" Lancer responded as he rubbed the back of his head with his right paw, "I didn't… know that the outside was so much fun!" they could speak English, but the list of words they know how to use was… limited. Pokemon, beginning at age 2, would be taught the basics of English. At age 3 they would become more advanced… then at age 4… even more advanced. Still, he had a long way to go before he could speak fluent English.

Just before Ember or Leslie could say anything else, Isaac stepped up and walked up to Lancer, towering over them, "Okay, you've had enough time out here." He said with a firm, strict, adult-like voice.

"No-o-o!" Lancer whined, "Can I stay out here just a little longer, ple-e-ease?"

"Okay then, stay out here."

"Yes!" Lancer squealed as he wrapped his arms around Isaac's right leg and squeezed as hard as he could, "Thank you!"

"You didn't let me finish…" Isaac said as he pushed Lancer away and exerted pressure downwards to make his little brother sit down and listen like an obedient child, "You can stay out here… but I'm heading back to Skenova Alternon with or without you…" cruelly, he turned around and walked away as if he didn't care… maybe he did, maybe he didn't… either way, Lancer could only stay in that one spot for so long until he got up and ran… trying to catch up to his big brother.

"Bye, Lancer!" Leslie and Ember called as a wave crashed over them. As they emerged from the water, they both let out that giddy laughter they have been letting out almost the entire time Lancer was there.

"Bye." Lancer stopped, turned around, and responded, but not to them, he said it to himself. As he ran through the dock which overlooked the beach in order to keep up with his brother who had seemingly gained more speed with each passing step, the multitude of colors raced across Lancer's eyes until they all decreased in saturation to the point where his world was in black and white… by that time… everything had dimmed down to black.

Those voices had resumed, all of that nerve racking commotion. Lancer could barely focus on one conversation. He only heard parts such as: "To be a taker of life… a grim reaper… a contract is… to be assigned to murder somebody… live and then let go…"

The only sentence he was able to make out was "As a Riocynn, you must embrace a normal… social life… then… when you finally turn 7… well… let's just say let's see where it takes you and then you'll know." That voice… it sounded familiar… too familiar.

31 Years Earlier…

6 years old. Lancer was now 6 years old and his life had just taken a turn for the worse. The Riocynn elders made it so Lancer only had one reason to keep going outside to play; that reason was Leslie and Ember, still Lancer's friends. But, if anything happened to them… that is when Lancer is meant to make his choice. Even if nothing happens to them, he was still going to have to choose between Skenova Alternon or the outside world. He couldn't have both, just one. But… his decision was made easy because both Leslie and Ember were caught by Pokemon trainers. His father said this was one of the dangers of the outside world and pretty much decided for Lancer to stay as a true Riocynn and begin his training for his future: A future in the world of Mercenaries. This was the first time Lancer had seen his father since he was 4 years old, Victor was never there… he was always on missions and there was nobody else but Lancer's brothers and sisters to comfort him. He had no mother, but he thought it was normal.

Even in 1 year's time, Tawney and Ember had become Lancer's best and only non-Riocynn friends… and now… they were off with their Pokemon trainers, having adventures, battling other Pokemon, making a special bond with their trainers… bullshit. Lancer didn't understand what was so great about having trainers, his logical way of thinking was to let their families train them… but he wouldn't know why that wasn't ethical for them. For most "normal" Pokemon, they have trainers to help them become stronger. Lancer, for his entire life, believed that only families were supposed to do that. Boy, he was wrong…

At a younger age, all Riocynns were exposed to the outside world so they would know the difference between life out there and life in Skenova Alternon. Normally at 6 years old all Riocynns are given the choice, which was stated previously, if they wanted life with other Pokemon or with their family. The Riocynns that say no are killed… as previously stated. It was a horrible truth but Lancer did not know they would do that.

The Riocynns had succeeded in brainwashing Lancer. He was oblivious to what was really going on… he never knew that if he chose his friends over his families… they would have killed him. The next day, he began his swordsmanship training. Little did he know… he was on the road to becoming the greatest Riocynn of all time which will inevitably lead to him becoming the one and only… Ronin Mercenary.

30 Years Earlier…

After 7 years on this Earth… Lancer was now becoming the stereotyped Riocynn: Bitter, uncaring, apathetic, and filled with darkness. After Lancer's friends were captured by those trainers and they began their journeys becoming stronger… Lancer had been revealed to the real world. At age 7 all Riocynns were meant to have already given up on their other non-Riocynn companions and embraced the lifestyle of a Riocynn: an entire life of completing contracts for whoever assigns them. By this time, Lancer had already gone on one mission with the one Riocynn he felt he could open up to, his sister Reiko. Of course they weren't alone though, they were accompanied by Isaac.

Isaac was showing Lancer and Reiko what an assassination contract was like. He carried both of them on his shoulders. After 2 hours of sneaking around, Isaac finally tracked down the target and killed him without making a sound. Lancer and Reiko both did not like what they saw… but as a Riocynn… they couldn't show those kinds of emotions.

Lancer and Reiko, after they both turned 7, became best friends. This was around the time where tension began growing between Pokemon and humans in the outside world.

They weren't able to see each other that much but they knew they could only trust each other with their true feelings.

It was around midnight and Lancer was exhausted, but Isaac kept him awake with more training, not observational this time… physical. They were sparring with wooden practice swords so they could only hurt each other, not kill each other. Lancer couldn't get a single hit on Isaac, he did everything he could but in the end he got a wooden stick to the face.

This was the first time he fought somebody else. Normally, all young Riocynns would just take a wooden stick and swing it around as the instructor ordered it to be horizontal swings, vertical swings, or thrusts. All this time Lancer was hesitating, all of the love Reiko had given him had turned him into a softy. It was a good thing he was able to hide these emotions from everybody else or he would have been murdered by now.

He never really thought about why Reiko was kind and loving to him, he just thought she were allowed to and he wasn't, which struck him to be a little unfair, but just in case… he decided not to tell anybody about the way she acts around him. To Lancer, she was the only compassionate Riocynns out there… funny thing was… he was wrong. Almost half of the Riocynns in Skenova Alternon were compassionate but they were good at hiding it like Lancer was. Nobody wants to die from showing emotions… that's just a ridiculous way to go.

These thoughts coursed through Lancer's mind as he fought his brother who kept encouraging him to unleash all of his anger. Isaac was not going to rest until Lancer landed one blow on him; he wanted both Lucien and Lancer, both of his younger brothers, to be the best they could be. In that way he was a good brother, but his intentions were negative.

"Come on Lancer, strike me down!" Isaac roared, his voice echoed through the empty "Duel-Field", the arena were Riocynns either sparred or fought to the death. The bleachers were all empty with the light above them dimmed down to the point where he could barely even see anything else passed 2 yards.

Lancer swung with all of his might, but that just wasn't enough. Isaac kept blocking like it was a feather dropping on his stick then countered it with a whip to the head or stomach. Lancer's entire face was puffed up with bruises and 3 lines of blood escaped his mouth from the left, middle, and right side. There was even a case of hyphema (bleeding eyes). It wasn't serious for it was caused by Lancer's prolonged coughing. Isaac had whacked Lancer in the stomach a couple of times and afterwards Lancer couldn't stop coughing but he still kept fighting. By this time, blood was seeping down from almost every opening in Lancer's face, his snout, his eyes, his mouth… but not his ears.

Even with all of this blood being lost, Isaac wanted Lancer to land just one blow on him then he could take him in. This was one sign that Isaac was indeed a Riocynn, he was disturbingly uncaring; the only thing he really cared about was fighting and his brothers learning how to fight. Reiko, however, he had given up on, he didn't think she would ever be a good fighter and… by the time she is 10… if she isn't a good fighter… she will be killed. He wasn't worried about that; in his mind he thought "Can't fight? Good bye and good riddance."

Lancer, with the little bit of strength he had left, decided this maneuver would be his last for the night. He couldn't fight anymore; Isaac was pushing him too hard. He had to get at least one hit then he'll be able to go back to his room. Isaac, with his wooden stick, slashed downward only to have it hit the floor for Lancer had dodged it, he then followed it up with a horizontal strike; expecting to smack Lancer in the face again, but no, he didn't feel any resistance against his stick. Lancer had dodged that as well by rolling across the floor. Since when was Lancer athletic like that?

Isaac saw it coming like it was in slow motion: Lancer's final strike. It was swerved towards a horizontal-vertical direction which had a destination: Isaac's snout. He raised his stick up to parry but Lancer had pulled back, rotated his body, and converted his attack into a thrust which, shockingly, rammed right between Isaac's eyes. With that mission accomplished, Lancer had dropped the stick before he could even pull it away from Isaac who had stumbled back a few steps. He fell to his knees and didn't even bother to shield his face from slamming against the floor.

Lancer could never forget what Isaac said to him that night, "Vicious, dear brother, that was vicious." Isaac kneeled over and hoisted Lancer up on his shoulders, adjusted the weight, then continued, "I can tell right now that you will be a feared Riocynn, you… will be a grim reaper, I'm sure of it." Through Lancer's bleeding eyes, tears came out as well. That's not what he wanted to achieve, but who could stop it? He was destined to be a killer. Even if he acted like a Riocynn to the general public of Skenova Alternon, he never wanted to be a Riocynn.

For the next few years Lancer continued his training until he was finally qualified as a true Riocynn the day he met all of their standards. By that time so much had happened to Lancer but for now he could only think about how around the time when he was 16 years old he was killing people left and right. He had become the most feared Riocynn of them all… but he could never fix it. With all of the accumulated blood of all of the victims he had slain… he would have drowned.

So many lives lost. So many lives lost. So many lives lost… it kept repeating until he was booted out of his reminiscent state of mind and back into reality.

Karl's face, disfigured with rage, was the first thing he witnessed. Then, as Lancer closed his eyes, everything became silent and only one voice was able to pierce that "Lancer!!"

It was Kisu.

Lancer's eyes shot open, he opened his mouth wide and forced himself backwards, banging the back of his head on the carpet while watching the shotgun bullets hover over him then indent themselves on the wall. He then jerked both of his legs upward, kicked Karl in the stomach to force him away, and then hopped back on his feet. Even with his wounded shoulder he still maneuvered with unrealistic speed.

"My life is not going to end to somebody like you," Lancer said as he starting feeling the intense pressure of his bullet wound once again, he grabbed his shoulder, squinted, and glanced at his sword on the floor. He was waiting for somebody to shoot at him first before he made a dive for the sword because he will be forced to slow down while retrieving it.

"Lancer…" Kisu whispered, filled with joy that Lancer hasn't been ripped away from her life. She wished she could help but the only thing she could do right now was watch. She wondered why the government would do this, sure, she knew about how they feared Riocynns, but even when one is trying to be a normal citizen they go after him? That was just wrong.

"You really are a bitch to kill, huh?" Karl growled, "Orders are orders, either way, you'll die here today."

"I… wouldn't say that, sir." A Titan interrupted.

"What are you…" Karl turned around to look out the window, "…talking… about…" there was a crowd of citizens with devastated looks on their faces witnessing everything going on inside of the Kairet Inn. Even with the intense rain pouring on them, they stood outside, speechless.

"Whoa." Volke, still up at the rooftops, said to himself, "Uh-oh…"

Lancer took this chance to pick up his sword, but he didn't attack.

Karl fixed up his headset and whispered to Cyrus, "I thought the city was put on lockdown, this was a secret operation, right? Where's the fucking lockdown?!"

"I… I could have sworn I issued it before the operation to everybody besides the residence of the Kairet Inn!" Cyrus responded, going over diagnostics on his terminal, "All of the citizens' doors should be temporarily locked down!"

"…Then could you tell me why the fuck they all out there, smart guy?!" Karl was freaking out, he didn't know exactly what the consequences were for being compromised, but he really didn't want to know.

Before Cyrus had a chance to answer, 10 more Titans barged into the Inn, having the other 7 Titans and Karl Terres at gunpoint, "Disarm yourselves!" they all ordered… the victims obeyed.

"What the hell is going on?" both Volke and Cyrus asked, expecting no response but that was exactly what they got.

"A rescue." A female voice greeted them from the device on Karl's wrist. It created a hologram that was transmitted to Cyrus' terminal and Karl's device. He aimed it at a blank wall to get a clear view of the hologram and to everybody's surprise… it was a Mismagius, guess who, Vaxrilla Aika, the Dictator of the Hoenn Region.

"Holy shit." Volke whispered, by this time, he had aborted the mission. He ran away and tried to start an act of never having any participation in this mission.

"Eh… Ms. Aika… uh… how are you doing?" Cyrus tried to act nonchalant, like nothing was going on, but what he thought he was being accused of was not nearly as bad as what he was actually getting accused of.

"I see you sent some man to kill that Lucario." Ms. Aika said.

"He is a Riocynn, ma'am."

"I do not care, you will be punished."

"What?!"

"Whoa…" Karl responded. Lancer said nothing, he just coughed.

"This act was demeaning, and I cannot say that I approve at all. You will be court marshaled and by the end of the day I assure you… you will be out on the streets for the abuse of your power today."

"No way!" Cyrus tried to defend himself, "You are the one who assigned me this mission in the first place, you knew about it, why would you punish me for it now instead of back then?!"

"First of all," Ms. Aika began, "I never told you to kill this Riocynn. You implied that I wanted him dead, no, I didn't. Secondly, you probably frightened half of the citizens of Lilycove city with this Riocynn business because you failed to keep it a secret. Thirdly, I wanted to test your responsibility. I see that you cannot be trusted with security either way, if you didn't want a Riocynn in your city… how did a Riocynn get in?"

Cyrus did not answer; he could only shudder at the thought of being court marshaled.

"You failed your position, plain and simple, you will be punished." By that time, Ms. Aika ordered Karl Terres to get out without receiving any consequences for his actions.

The remaining Titans disbanded the group of citizens and called a medic for Kayaji. Lancer froze up as the paramedics carried Kayaji's limp body away while her kids whimpered on the stretcher. Carmine and Kisu followed them as they rolled her up into the ambulance, her kids stayed inside… the paramedics could allow that. They tried to see what they could do with Kayaji as they closed the doors, leaving Carmine to try and comfort Kisu. She fell to her knees in the rain and sobbed while Carmine kneeled down to her level and gave her comforting words. Lancer couldn't make out what she was saying… but god dammit he felt horrible about this. The government just went through Kayaji to get him, Karl almost killed Carmine as a matter of fact… he just wouldn't have been able to handle two deaths at once like that.

Then, the transparent doors slid open as it let out a short customer alarm. It was a Titan; in fact, it was one of the Titans assigned with Karl to come and either drive Lancer away from Lilycove or to kill him. He had the same device Karl had on his wrist, a light appeared, and he aimed it at the wall. The Titan said nothing, he was receiving a transmission from Ms. Aika and now she was face-to-face with Lancer… well… face-to-hologram at least.

"I apologize for what has occurred here today." Ms. Aika stated with no sincere tone in her voice. She gave off a serious look as she looked directly at the screen in her own terminal while Lancer could see humans walking around in the background with paperwork, clamoring about taxes and government affairs.

"'Sorry' isn't going to cut the lost life of a mother of two…" Lancer replied, "You knew about this and you could have stopped it, why didn't you stop it?!" certainly not a good impression, but faced with the death of Kayaji… Lancer didn't care if he was being unmistakably rude.

"Continue acting like that and I will have you jailed for improper civility towards a dictator," even with all of that anger coursing through him, Lancer calmed down. That definitely shut him up, "Now, let's try that again," Ms. Aika said, "I apologize for what has occurred here today."

Lancer did not respond. He motioned for her to continue, "But, based upon what has happened here… with you being a Riocynn and all… I'm afraid many people aren't going to accept the fact that you're living there. It is the sad truth… but the truth is the truth and you can't change that." Ms. Aika seemed to be going somewhere with this, Lancer felt a proposition coming along. "I have a proposition for you." Bingo.

Based on what Lancer has seen in the past, he just couldn't see himself accepting this if it had anything to do with assigned assassinations… but he wanted to know what Ms. Aika had up her sleeve, "What would that be?"

"Oh? You thought I would tell you out here in the open?" Ms. Aika let out an unenthusiastic laugh, "No. You will go to Ever Grande city and I will tell you what needs to be done, understood?"

"Wait…"

"Don't worry, I know all about your dilemma." Ms. Aika reassured, "You will be killing targets, I won't lie to you about that, but trust me on this; the cause is just. The humans your Riocynn clan worked for back in the revolution… well… let's just say with you being the Ronin Mercenary and all…"

"Wait."

"It's not polite to interrupt."

"How did you know I was the Ronin Mercenary?"

Ms. Aika giggled, "Cyrus Brown is a fool for not noticing it first, oh well, that doesn't matter now. Let me continue."

Kisu and Carmine sat out in the rain, facing off into oblivion as they tried to let the death of Kayaji sink in.

"…Fine." Lancer's wound, for some reason, ceased its intense pressure and pain. He had too much on his mind to focus on that pain… until Ms. Aika mentioned it again."

"Get your wound patched up and head to Ever Grande city for what I have in store for you. Your missions are just and I know you want to do well for this post-revolutionary world… being the Ronin Mercenary and all. We must talk about all of this later on, I have many questions for you and I'm sure you have many questions for me. I will have a boat sent to you at the Lilycove dock; it will be called the S.S. Everblue."

"Wait!" Lancer wanted to ask her just one more question before she cut transmission, but she wouldn't listen.

"Yeah… wait." Kisu said as she and Carmine walked back inside of the Inn, "Would you all mind telling me… why there was a fight in my Inn?!" she screamed, tears running out of her eyes, "Why were they calling him a Riocynn… the Ronin Mercenary… what was that all about?!"

"I can see why you're angry," Ms. Aika replied, "Allow me to explain." Lancer said nothing, he just stood there with an apathetic look, "Your friend here… just happens to be one of the ever-so-feared Riocynns you must have heard about sometime in your life, am I correct?"

"Yes… I've heard of them." Kisu said. Carmine, like Lancer, stood there and said nothing. She didn't want to intervene, she was afraid if there would be any negative repercussions.

"Yes, now have you ever heard of the Ronin Mercenary?"

"No… no I haven't."

"Okay then," Ms. Aika cleared out her throat, "During the Anti-Pokemon Revolution, the entire world had a Fascist government… well… instead of the Sinnoh Region which believed in a Democratic Republic. This, after a long time, angered the rest of the Regions which led to a war known as the "Origin War". All Regions in the entire world teamed up against the Sinnoh Region as the "Continental Alliance". Well, I bet you're thinking this isn't relevant? Well it is. With the Sinnoh Region defeated, the entire world was plunged into Fascism which, about 40 years after the Origin War, exploded into a civil conflict. Most Fascists became paranoid about the new "Equal Age" drug that allowed Pokemon to live as long as humans and the "Equal Intellect" program which gave Pokemon the ability to think freely and all that good stuff. Humans became scared after a while and voila… humans try wiping out the entire Pokemon race and the Anti-Pokemon Revolution happens. Funny thing is… during this Revolution, there were other large uprisings which gave governmental difference in the world. You see, a lot happened in that revolution… but your friend here… was unwillingly assigned as instruments of destruction for the Fascist humans who wanted all Pokemon dead. The Riocynns were always known as the supreme Sentinels but the entire world of Pokemon was betrayed with that contract between Fascist humans and Riocynns was signed."

"You mean…"

"Yes, your friend here was part of the attempted destruction of the Pokemon race."

Lancer sighed but didn't try to defend himself because it was all true.

"…but it's not as bad as it sounds," Ms. Aika reassured, "He was never willing to do those evil deeds and I heard that the Ronin Mercenary, your friend here, was the first and only Riocynn to secede from his family to try and fight for the greater good than for greed and distrust. Your friend is a hero but he disappeared about 17 years ago, the only thing that puzzles me is how and why he came back now… hmm… well I guess now's not the time to discuss something like that."

Kisu remained silent, waiting for Ms. Aika to cut her transmission.

"You… are coming to Ever Grande city to see me, am I correct?"

Lancer nodded.

"Splendid… see you at Ever Grande." She then cut transmission and, without a word, the Titan giving off the hologram with his wrist device left, his heavy metallic boots banging against the carpeted floor with his robotic-like movement.

Kisu and Carmine faced the door where the Titan left. Kisu then took a deep breath and asked, "Why didn't you tell…" she turned around to figure out that Lancer had disappeared, "…us…?" Carmine sighed and wrapped her paw around Kisu as high as she could get them for she was a few feet shorter than the shiny Gardevoir. She gave the notion that everything was going to be okay… but how would she know? Nothing strange like this has ever happened to her. The worst thing that happened to her was the loss of her father but after that she had nobody to teach her about comforting other people… a little like how Lancer grew up… oblivious to social and emotional problems.

It took no thinking what-so-ever, Lancer, with the bullet wound he barely even noticed, disappeared at the blink of an eye. He was torn up between two choices which inevitably led him to go to Ever Grande city… of course after getting medical attention. He couldn't stand to face those two girls after what had happened, typical Lancer Riocynn, never raised to confront his problems… only raised to run away from them.

That's exactly what he did.

As the violence cleared and the dust settled, Lancer left with what he had started unfinished. He could not help Kisu as much as he wanted, he didn't do much but at least he tried. This post-revolutionary world was unforgiving… a bit too unforgiving.

-End of Act 1-


	9. ACT 2 Convenient Delays

Act 2

By the end of the day, Kisu's business had already met its fate. Her only customer was Carmine and that wasn't enough for the deal given to her by the city, she was forced to close down. There wasn't much to say. Kisu packed up her belongings with tears in her eyes and shut down with Carmine at her side. Even if Carmine only knew her for a little bit she still stayed loyal and remained at her side.

Kerrece and Nashi were assigned to an Orphanage where they would start a search for a new family to love and take care of them. Their real mom, however, wasn't coming back. She was sent to the hospital and that was the last everybody heard of her. They knew she was going to have a funeral because Kisu was going to put one up with the remainder of her money… but inside… a deep hatred of Lancer was brewing but at the same time… love. How could that be? As soon as he came to her Inn nothing but chaos had followed and now he left. He might as well have raped her and left her pregnant. Carmine could sense it.

What of Karl Terres? 1 hour after the incident he was hit by a truck. Unfortunate for him, yes, but maybe that was just karma's way of saying "You're an evil bastard that needs to go down."

Cyrus Brown, later on, was court-marshaled for shameful actions against Lancer Riocynn. Apparently the court was in favor of giving Lancer a second chance and kicked the title "General" right off of Cyrus' name. The last words he roared before he stepped out of those massive wooden doors were "You'll all see why I did this! I hope a Riocynn comes in here someday and kills off every single one of you!"

How did it come to this? All Lancer wanted was to settle down with a roof above his head, surrounded by people he cares about. Repercussions? A mother of two eons was murdered by a man sent by the General of Lilycove city. Why would Cyrus go through all of that just to get rid of Lancer? Repercussions? He was court-marshaled. Lancer couldn't help but blame himself for the death of Kayaji and he couldn't help to blame himself even more for not being able to attend her funeral when it comes up but he couldn't face Kisu, Carmine, Kerrece, or Nashi after what happened. The whole thing was like an organized ordeal, a trial by fire to see how capable Lancer was in a tense situation.

Lancer waited at the Lilycove docks diligently with his sword wrapped around his arms as he tried to keep warm. What a waste of a day, he was there since the incident occurred early in the morning… and it was now 8:00 at night. Hey, at least it stopped raining around 4:00. After a while he tried to go in the restaurant closest to the dock so he would be able to watch for his boat.

The manager, just as Lancer walked inside, shooed him off with this talk about not allowing any Pokemon inside who have swords. Lancer knew that was a load of crap since nobody in this city except for him was granted immunity from disobeying the "Zero Weapon Tolerance" law for reasons he didn't understand himself. The manager didn't want Lancer inside because he was a Lucario.

Cold and hungry, Lancer walked across the docks in search for a place to stay with a roof above his head. No luck. Nobody would let him in. Lancer didn't get it, there must have been many Lucarios roaming around Lilycove city somewhere and they actually put up with this crap? For a second there, Lancer felt like cursing out the last manager to slam the door in his face… but to sustain his unnaturally peaceful nature… he took a deep breath and walked away.

There were few citizens out, mostly humans. They all had umbrellas tucked away in their jackets in case it started raining again. You can never be too careful; they could expect a lot to happen especially since it raining for nearly a week. Thanks to the impressive ventilation systems, which Lancer noticed when he made his way to the Pokemon Center to get himself patched up for his bullet wound, the rain didn't cause a flood.

As Lancer walked downstairs to the sandy beach, he felt… disoriented. The image of him as a 4 year old Riolu playing on the beaches with Leslie and Ember flashed. He was daydreaming. This place was so familiar that Lancer kept asking himself "Was this the place Isaac took me the second time I walked into the outside world?" by the time Lancer started getting used to this disoriented feeling, a voice broke him free. He looked around but no one was near him. He must have been tired… that's it… he must have been hearing things. No. The voice called out again "Yo!" it called. It was the call of a young boy, probably around 8 years old, "Down here!"

Lancer found a Shinx with a black beret on under the docks; it looked like he was shielding himself from the rain with a tent. He had a small fire going with a bag of chips outside but that's all Lancer could see for now, "Have any food… or money… or something on you?" the Shinx asked, "Just a little though, I wouldn't want you to think I owed you a lot."

"Oh man…" Lancer thought. This broke his heart, such a young boy by himself in this cruel world with barely any food and no money? It was such a depressing sight, "Hold on, let me get you something, just… wait here."

"I'm not goin' anywhere." The Shinx said without making eye-contact with Lancer, he crawled back in his tent and poked his head out next to the fire to keep himself warm.

Lancer stepped back in the first restaurant to kick him out just to have the manager come back and yell "Come back one more time and I'm calling the cops on your ass!"

"Just listen to me!" Lancer roared, shutting the manager up, "I have the money, you have the food, just give me the food and I'll give you my money, simple business, what do you say?"

The manager didn't seem to have put much thought in what he said next, but it worked out for both of them either way, "Fine, fine," he said, "But if I catch you loitering around here, I'm callin' the cops, you hear me?"

"Yeah, yeah…" Lancer replied.

**

It only took him a few minutes but he did it either way, Lancer came back with a cheeseburger, some fries, and a "Dr. Salt" beverage all on a brown tray. The dark gray sky didn't make it seem so appealing but it was fast-food; if you look on the ingredients it's not going to be pretty either.

Lancer set the tray near the fire and said, "Eat up before it gets cold, it's just a matter of time with this harsh weather out here." Lancer sat down on the wet sand and rolled himself up into an upright fetal position while hugging his sword to keep warm.

The Shinx took one look at it, sniffed, gave a lustful face, then pulled back and replied "You might as well eat that yourself," Lancer gave off a confused grunt, "I don't have the money to repay you for so much food." The Shinx crawled back in his tent but his beret got trapped in the tent entrance and fell off. He didn't bother to retrieve it.

Lancer sighed, stood up, picked up the Shinx's beret and said, "You don't need to pay me back, I did this for no money, just to support a fellow Pokemon." The Shinx poked his head out of the tent and Lancer handed him his beret, "Come on, eat up."

"Bull crap!" the Shinx responded furiously, "You adults are all the same; it's always with the money! I don't believe you!" he wrapped his teeth around his beret, pulled it out of Lancer's paws, and crawled back in his tent.

"But why would you ask me for money if you…"

"I only wanted a few dollars, not an entire meal!" the Shinx roared with that adorable voice of his, even if he was being a bit prejudice. "I knew you wouldn't expect me to pay you back for… what… $2? But how much did that cost you?"

"Eh… $34" Lancer said with a noticeable blush.

"Yeah, there's no F'ing way I'm going to be able to pay you back 34 F'ing dollars!" he gave off a loud groan and pouted in his tent like a child… well… for the obvious reasons. Lancer was surprised, with that young, squeaky voice of his he was already talking like an adult and even using adult words. Well, "F'ing" isn't really an adult word but it implies to "Fucking" so… whatever.

"Please," Lancer pushed the tray closer to the tent, "Eat the food, you don't owe me anything, I swear." The Shinx poked his head out once more, his beret sliding to the left hemisphere of his head. He eyeballed the food and actually started drooling, but he caught himself and looked away while he shut his eyes tight.

"For an entire year I've been here and nobody has given me more than $2, how can I trust you?!"

"Were these people humans?"

"Most of them, normally the Pokemon don't have any money to give but the ones that do give me more but I can't accept it because then I'll owe them a lot of money and I just can't pay them back then they'll send some collectors after me and… aah!"

"I'm different than most people here because I'm not really from Lilycove, I just got here a few days ago but I'm going to be leaving soon."

"How do I know you're not going to expect $34 out of me after I eat this meal?"

"Because I have enough money to take care of myself and I love helping out other people, don't worry about it, please."

"You're… you're serious?" the Shinx asked with his eyes still closed, he then shook his head and his beret flew off. Lancer picked it up and placed it back on his head.

"Yup, I'm being serious, now please, before it gets cold." Lancer finally got through to the Shinx, although he must admit, it was a little easy. Well, the kid was pretty young and pretty naïve, Lancer shouldn't be surprised, but even for a little kid he did show signs of twisted up trust. It didn't look like he trusted anybody.

Water started forming around the Shinx's eyes. He blinked rapidly to try and make the tears go away but they overpowered him and he just burst out crying with joy. He even blushed since he was embarrassed about showing his emotions to some stranger, "Why do you even want to help me?!" he almost screamed, "My parents didn't even want to help me so why would you?"

Lancer knew where this was going for he had seen it so many times before. It was like parents around this generation were lacking with responsibility, almost everyone had a sob-story about how their parents never loved them or their parents left them. All in all, no matter how many times Lancer has seen it before; he just couldn't help but devote his sympathy to the little Shinx. What a cruel world it was.

**

A few moments passed and the Shinx was annihilating his food. The only thing he ate, probably, was that bag of potato chips before Lancer came along. By that time, he was giddy like a child should be. He revealed that his name was Leo Rynam, but his nickname and his preferred identity was "Sparks" on account of him being an Electric Pokemon. He also revealed he was 8 years old like Lancer predicted.

His emotions were easily converted because he was a misunderstood, confused, lonely kid. He finished all of that food at an impressive rate, yawned, crawled back in his tent, and pulled out a book and a reading light, powered it with his tail, then flipped the book open to page 52.

All was not hopeless for him; he seemed smart even through that casual talk. It looked like the only entertainment he had because apparently Sparks didn't play the games like so many other kids, no, he was actually reading extremely complicated stuff. It was a "Big Facts Book".

"So…" Sparks said, reading about the Endoplasmic Reticulum of a eukaryotic cell in the Biology section of the book, "What's up with the sword, anyways?" his eyes could not determine what to look at, the sudden priority shift left his eyes going left and right. Was he concerned about the sword? Well, it was understandable, how would you feel if you were hanging out with somebody who carried a sword around with them? Probably the same way you would feel if you were hanging around a Titan.

"It's for defense." Lancer replied, his eyes unmoving, stiff, aimed at the sand under him. The cold weather slowed him down but didn't seem to bother Sparks so much. A bit of chilly wind rushed passed, causing Lancer's muscles to tense up and start shivering, "I am a Sentinel after all." He continued.

Sparks' eyes suddenly shined with anticipation and excitement, he jumped up and screamed "Cool!" as he fell back down, he slipped on the sand and fell to his left. He giggled then started running around in circles. No, this probably wasn't his normal nature, it was definitely the sugar in that Dr. Salt soda Lancer gave him… and with all of that sugar rushing through his system… he was hauling ass even with those short, stubby legs. With every word he completed a circle, "I've… only… heard… of… Sentinels… but… I've… never… seen… one… before!"

"Well, hehe, here's one in the flesh." Lancer chuckled, stretching out his legs then returning to his fetal position.

"Hmm, I never got your name anyways."

"Oh God, here is comes," Lancer thought, he didn't want to lie about his last name anymore, he just hoped that Sparks didn't know anything about the Riocynns, "My name is Lancer Riocynn." He said.

"…Rye-O-Sign…?" Sparks sounded it out, "That sounds pretty neat!" apparently he was too young to know about the Riocynns or was just never taught about them.

Sparks suddenly felt safe for some reason. Seriously, Sparks only knew Lancer for a little while now and he already trusted him. In that short time, he made a brotherly impression to Sparks and it kind of gave a hint that Sparks was going to start treating him like one.

An entire night had passed and before they went to sleep, those two were bonding just like siblings. It was a weird feeling but Sparks may have viewed Lancer as a brother, but Lancer saw Sparks as a son because he was so young. The pressures of parenthood almost befell him once before… but that was a long time ago. But now, knowing technically Sparks wasn't his kid, Lancer, for some reason, felt well about it.

No, he didn't forget about Kayaji's death and leaving Kisu and Carmine, but now, he figured he wouldn't be able to do anything for them. Just like everything else, he ran away from it and started something new. He never had real loving parents to tell him that was a bad way to handle things.

Lancer and Sparks both cuddled up inside of the tent, the fire died out, and the air became still. There was a small notebook inside next to the Biology book, but Lancer didn't look at it. Also, there was a small chest, only Sparks knew what was inside and Lancer decided to keep it that way.

It was a quick start for a relationship. Lancer wasn't surprised. Sparks was 8 years old, right? An instinct for young kids is to search for somebody to look up to and Sparks now chose Lancer. To think this all started over a fast-food meal… it was pretty funny.

Later on, Lancer was starting to feel a bit restless. He decided to take off his cloak and lay down his sword to take a quick jog. Odd, he would trust his valuables with Sparks? Of course, if Lancer had any reason to doubt Sparks he would have taken his equipment. This, of course, lead to the common 8 year old curiosity. Sparks took a look at Lancer's sword first and gasped with excitement, "Awesome!" he tried to keep his voice down. He could barely hold it up so he sat it on the sand and pulled the sword out of its sheath with his teeth, "This is really impressive!" then, he looked at the cloak as well, "Why does he have all this cool stuff?" then, a giddy smirk appeared on his face, "Maybe I can make it cooler…"

Bad idea? Maybe.

30 minutes passed and Lancer returned out of breath to see his cloak hung up on a wire between two long sticks stuck in the sand and the little fire Sparks put up heating up the steel on his sword while Sparks banged a rock against the edges of the blade, also, there was a bucket of water nearby. Where did Sparks get all this? "What's going on here?" Lancer asked waiting for an explanation before he decides how to feel about this.

"Oh, Lancer!" Sparks said, "I'm sorry but I couldn't resist fixing up your stuff! It's really cool and I noticed that your sword was a little dull and your cloak had a few holes in it."

"You mean to tell me you fixed up my cloak and…?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty much done with your sword, now I need to dump it in this water…"

"And you got that water from the ocean?"

"Of course!"

"Are you sure salt water will…"

"I'm sure, trust me on this!"

"Wow Sparks…" Lancer chuckled as he walked up and kneeled down to Sparks' size, "I really don't know what to say."

"You can say 'Holy crap!' when I'm done with this sword, seriously, my book gave me a really good idea and I wanted to try it out!" Sparks dunked the sword in the water for a few minutes and when he pulled it out…

"Holy… crap." Lancer uttered in disbelief. Lancer's Shamshir sword was… blue? How in the world was Sparks able to do that? Either way, Lancer had to admit that it was impressive, in other words, it was freaking awesome! A blue sword really matched Lancer either way, it made him look professional.

"Do you really like it?!" Sparks asked with that childish giddiness.

"This was really nice of you to do this for me; I really, really appreciate it."

"But that's not all!" Sparks said, "It's much easier to swing and now it's like… 10% harder to break!"

"Truly… thank you so much." Lancer said as he rubbed Sparks' head, sheathed his new blue sword, and put his cloak back on. Surprisingly, all of the holes Lancer made in it were stitched back together. Sparks was… really helpful. He was like a little sidekick, a very young, extremely intelligent sidekick…

**

It was now morning; Lancer probably would have slept a lot longer if something didn't disturb him. There were Pidgeots cawing as the sound of struggle was heard farther down the beach. Lancer squinted in the intense sunlight shining through the decreased amount of dark clouds above. Sparks was over there with 3 other Pokemon: An Elekid, a Treeko, and a Chimchar. Why did Lancer hear struggling? Well, because those kids were bullies.

During Lancer's childhood he never had any problems with bullies mainly because they knew he could beat the crap out of them even with his low fighting skills.

Lancer couldn't make out exactly what those kids were talking about but the only thing he could identify was taunting laughter. The Treeko held the Big Facts Book high up where Sparks couldn't reach it. He jumped up but couldn't get a hold of it. It was sad to see Sparks like that but Lancer didn't know anything about his struggle or the people who mess with him. Still, he thought this was really jacked up. Lancer didn't want to interfere though, if Lancer knew one thing about the streets it was that if somebody came in to help you in "your" fight, you would be marked as a pussy.

"What are they going to do?" Lancer thought, "Could they be so heartless that they would throw the…" before Lancer could even finish his thought, the Treeko tossed the book straight in the ocean. Sparks stood still for a second, and then lowered himself down as far as his 4 legs could go with his head bowed down. The Treeko then kicked sand in Sparks' face, gave out a loud laugh, and ordered his "Crew" to stroll on out of there all casual-like.

Lancer waited until Sparks decided to come back to his little tent under the docks. There was a brief moment of silence between the two when Sparks came back with that devastated look on his face like he was ready to blow. Before Lancer had a chance to say anything, Sparks yelled out "Why me?!" Lancer backed up a little bit, "They always pick on me! They know I don't have that much money and that book cost me so much!" Lancer could see the tears forming in his eyes behind his frustration, "It seriously took me a month to get enough money… especially since I had to pay for food too!" he pounded his paws on the sand, "And I just got it too… I mean… it was so awesome! I seriously fixed up your sword and your cloak just by reading it!"

Lancer didn't respond, he could only give a sincere look, but that wasn't enough. Sparks retreated back to his tent like a frustrated teenager would retreat to his or her room. Lancer stared off at the beach, choosing not to say anything because he was afraid of giving off the wrong advice since he didn't know how to deal with these kinds of situations without it breaking out into violence. This was a definite flaw in Lancer's character.

He opened up the tent to see how Sparks was coping with this problem just to see Sparks… growling while writing with his teeth? Since he had paws there was no other way, but what was he writing? Amazing… he was writing a book. Sparks, an 8 year old Shinx, was actually writing a book. Heh, now that he thought of it, it was much more impressive how Sparks fixed up Lancer's equipment, but this was still pretty unusual. Lancer couldn't help but ask if that was the reason he bought that book. It was.

"I feel like I don't know that much about stuff, like new words and all that, I want to write a book but there are a lot of things I don't understand."

"Well," Lancer started, sitting down next to Sparks who seemed to have calmed down after that incident with those bullies, "I don't know much about books but I can tell you that you should base your story off things that you understand, not things that most people write about. Maybe you can write about your time on the streets or how hard it was when your…" Lancer paused, he had assumed that Sparks' parents had abandoned him but he wanted to clarify, "What happened to your parents?"

"They left me." Sparks said with no emotional reaction, he must have already accepted the fact that his parents left, "What does that have to do with writing?"

"You can write about your struggles, I mean, that's very popular with writers." Lancer said which led him to a great idea. It was floating around his mind when he first met Sparks but now he actually had a reason to try it out, "Leo…" Lancer tried to be serious and not use Sparks' actual name but…

"Hey, hey!" Sparks squealed, "Don't call me that, please!" he had a smile on his face but he was trying to be serious.

"Okay, Sparks." Lancer continued, "I'm a traveler, an adventurer of sorts. Perhaps I can help you with your book while we provide each other a little company, eh?" that same twinkle popped back up in Sparks' eyes.

"What are you getting at here?" his voice hinted his excitement.

"How would you like to come along with me on my little journey?"

"YES!" Sparks squealed as he jumped up and squeezed Lancer's left arm as hard as he could, "Oh my gosh Lancer! You would actually take me along with you?!"

"Sure, why not?"

"Wow… I've never been on an adventure before!" Sparks climbed up on Lancer's shoulder, "I could be up here, is that alright?"

"That's alright."

"Yes!!" Lancer could tell how much Sparks loved the idea, it worked out for both of them. Lancer gets somebody he could talk to on his journeys and Sparks gets some help with making a book. Funny, by this time, Sparks had completely forgotten about his book.

**

Finally the S.S. Everblue arrived on the Lilycove docks. By that time, Sparks had packed up his tent with all of his items. Lancer even bought Sparks a dictionary and the same Big Facts Book while he carried Sparks' tent. But before they got on the boat… they found those 3 Pokemon who bullied Sparks and formulated a plan to get revenge.

It was a simple plan. The 3 Pokemon were walking near the dock overlooking the ocean without a care in the world when, suddenly, Lancer came out of a nearby alleyway swinging his sword vigilante style. In panic, the Pokemon screamed and jumped off the dock into the ocean. As they emerged, they spit the salt water out of their mouths just to hear Lancer and Sparks laughing at them from above, "Nice reflexes guys!" Sparks taunted, "That's for messing with me!"

What a way to begin another journey for Lancer, except this time, he had hopes for this one. The thought of his friends back at the Kairet Inn didn't leave his mind, he still felt some guilt, but he tried his hardest to not worry about it. Yes, a bad way to handle it but it was all he knew how to do. Sparks couldn't wait to get out of Lilycove, to get away from those bullies and all of those city troubles.

It only took one day but Lancer and Sparks to bond like that. To tell the truth, it was inevitable, their friendship, if you believe in fate, was meant to be. It would have happened quickly or slowly but it would have happened either way. Lancer and Sparks had a certain chemistry working for them, of course not for sexual attraction, but the feeling that they were very similar even if their past lives were diverse. To Pokemon, maybe, friendships don't have to be about time and patience like human friendships.

Just another unique factor in the lives of Pokemon.


	10. Semblance of Undesired Assisted Suicide

Lancer briskly walked down the two-sided dock with all of Sparks' belongings strapped to his back with some shoddy rope. Sparks trotted next to him with a bright smile on his face, repelling all negative thoughts about going on an adventure with a Lucario he just met.

Waves rushed up from the coast of Lilycove causing the docks to creak. Children played on those shores, mostly humans. Lancer couldn't resist staring at them with a feeling of consolation shooting up his spine. Those happy, innocent children gave him inner peace from the dark thoughts attempting to corrupt his mind. Though, as much as he tried to hide it with that unnatural peaceful demeanor, his mind, being exposed to the outside world once more, was slowly decomposing.

One example: While he walked down the long, narrow docks towards the S.S. Everblue, he felt faint in a flash second. His brain disorientated the normal process of vision and caused a colorless moment. It only lasted 2 seconds but in that short amount of time he fell to his knees in the overwhelming dizziness. Sparks had shouted something but Lancer's brain couldn't decipher what it was until he said it again, "What's wrong?!"

Opening his eyes once more to the sight of the real world, Lancer shook off his disorientation, stood up, and clicked his tongue. "That was weird." He said, trying to make it seem like it wasn't a big deal when he had already convinced himself that it wasn't. Sparks raised his eyebrows and let out an uncomfortable groan.

They continued walking.

"Do you always do this because I don't think it'll be comfortable for me to be walking… then suddenly you fall over like you're having heart palpitations or something?" Sparks was too busy gawking at the beautiful horizon to really care much about what just happened. By the way Lancer acted afterwards, Sparks saw no reason to make it seem like a big deal either… just make it one simple question.

"…First time something like that happened," Lancer declared, adjusting his back to the weight that felt as if it was becoming heavier every few minutes, "Maybe I'm just tired."

"Still?" Sparks asked, "You slept like a baby last night, I wouldn't expect that." He then stopped, forcing Lancer to stop after a few overlapping steps, "Maybe you should go to the Pokemon Center?"

"No, no," Lancer urged with an advising tone, "I need to get to Ever Grande as soon as possible, might as well do it now, you know?"

"Okay then." Sparks stopped again and started fiddling around with something in his mouth with his tail.

"Something wrong with you?" Lancer giggled from the irony. He was concentrating about what had happened to him. He was trying to drown out his odd experience with a sense of companionship.

"Nah, something stuck in my teeth from yesterday's meal." Sparks' bright yellow eyes shimmered in the morning sun passed the beret. His fur was glimmered like he just took a bath. Lancer couldn't help but call his new companion "cute". Though, normally, for travelling Sentinels who have companions, the companion is weaker but is able to fight back with normal Pokemon abilities. Lancer didn't see Sparks using Thunderbolt and all that, instead, he saw Sparks as the Pokemon who sat on his shoulder and told him what to do in difficult situations. With his street intelligence and book intelligence, he could prove to be more helpful than prejudged by his small stature.

The captain of the boat, a teenage girl by the looks of it, greeted Lancer with her stereotypical sailor's outfit and hat. She had long red hair and blue… eyes? Does that seem familiar? Lancer didn't notice until the captain blurted "Hey you! I remember you!"

"Huh?"

"Remember? A few days ago I was a taxi driver!" now Lancer remembered who it was though he probably would have never guessed because he only saw the back on her head on that entire ride to the Keralys Farm. It was Mei Leonarz.

"Wow!" Lancer faked that enthusiasm but he was surprised to see her, not necessarily giddy, but surprised. "You're right, you are that taxi driver." Wait a minute… "When did you start driving boats?"

"Yearrg, I maneuver all sorts'a vehicles thar!" she spit out in a common sailor's tongue. As she looked down, she let out a frightened squeal. Noticing Sparks, Mei, for some reason, showed an unusually negative reaction.

"Ahh!" Sparks gave out a mortified gasp, "Don't worry miss, I won't hurt ya!" she tried showing her he means no harm by walking up closer but with each step she backed away. "Aww, come on." Sparks moaned, "Honest! I'm harmless!" Lancer stayed out of this, he only showed a slight smile from the odd humor in this situation.

"Keep… away…" Mei caught her breath, "Okay, I'll let him on the boat but please don't let him anywhere near my room!" she shuddered at the thought of it.

"Why are you so afraid of him?" Lancer asked, pulling Sparks by the tail to get him away from Mei.

"Nothing, it's nothing." Mei stated firmly, her care-free demeanor vanishing into thin-air, "Come on now, let's get your bags in." she offered to take the load off Lancer's back but he denied her help, "Oka-a-ay then… I'll just go warm up the boat, 'kay?" too obvious of a lie, why would she warm up the boat? She just got there. Apparently she just wanted to get away from Sparks.

"Okay…" Lancer and Sparks replied at a simultaneous pace; looking at each other afterwards with a brief moment of silence, then both giggled like children… well… you know, "Why's she afraid of me?"

"I don't know, but don't let it get to you. Okay?"

"Yeah, it's alright."

Lancer, still feeling guilty about the chaos he was going to leave behind in Lilycove city, looked back one more time before boarding the boat and beginning his way to Ever Grande city.

**

"Absolute isolation" Those two words repeated repetitively. Kisu felt light-headed as if she had dove into a pool 20 feet deep, swam the lengths, and resurfaced to feel the disorientation of her ears equalizing themselves to the air. Surrounded by four musky walls; Kisu's first instinct was to try and find an exit. Where am I? She asked herself repeatedly until it became redundant.

There was a brief moment of helplessness which led to a periodic ineptitude. She shouldn't be there; she didn't feel like she should be there. Of course she didn't, first of all, she had no idea where she was. Just as the Absols of the Anti-Pokemon Revolution subjected to a Diaspora from the Hoenn Region to the Kanto Region, Kisu felt out-of-place. She could only think about going home until she realized… she had no home. The Kairet Inn was gone, everything was gone.

Kisu felt completely helpless and now she could only think about Lancer. Hate him or forgive him? Sure, he was a part of the revolution but technically… the revolution was more of a preemptive war: a war to prevent something from occurring. In other words, the Anti-Pokemon Revolution was a war to prevent the extinction of the Pokemon race… well… at least if you supported the Kyrekesa Rebellion.

It was true that Lancer was on the antagonistic side of this preemptive war, but he didn't have a choice. She knew a thing or two about Riocynns but not enough to know that their eyes could change color depending on their intentions. Green for negative, blue for positive; Kisu only hoped she never meets a green-eyed Riocynn.

"Should I… forgive him?" she kept asking herself, sitting in the northern corner of this small blank room. Funny, now she was focusing more on her problems than actually getting out of the room.

Could the fingers have been pointed at the wrong person? What if Lancer wasn't to blame for all of this? Yes, there's a thought. No matter how Kisu looked at it, she didn't feel right blaming Lancer for all that happened. The anger she contained within her, the very same anger brewing within her as she was forced out of her Inn, dimmed down overnight. Her blind rage had subsided and she was finally contemplating with more logical terms.

She was a very intelligent girl so in this period of absolute isolation she decided to re-look everything as if she was a detective just so she wouldn't falsely blame Lancer for all of her problems in this difficult time of her life. Sure, if you looked at it with newly developed thoughts… you would blame Lancer, but there had to be something more.

Lancer arrived in Lilycove city late at night, exactly when…? Kisu did not know. Citizenship in Lilycove changed in variation of species that walk through those gates. That must mean he was either travelling or… maybe just arrived in the Hoenn Region recently. Kisu pondered about the fact that he had a blue cloak and a sword along with him. Knowing that Cyrus Brown, the previous General in charge of the security and welfare of Lilycove, had sustained a secret law indicating that Lucarios were not forbidden from using weapons… Lancer was allowed to keep his sword in exchange for even less privacy than the normal citizen which is technically 98% privacy due to the "Criminal Intention Prevention Act" of Ms. Vaxrilla Aika's Totalitarian government.

Kisu's conclusion was that Lancer was travelling, perhaps just being an adventurer, and upon arrival at Lilycove city he had been under Karysan surveillance. Could that have stopped his true nature? Could he really be the murderer people suspect and expect Riocynns to be? Wait a second. Kisu's recap wasn't over yet.

Perhaps by knowing he was under surveillance, Lancer sustained a supposed desire to murder blindly. That made sense but Kisu couldn't close the case just yet. Lancer had acted friendly upon arrival, though he was overfriendly. This was suspicious. Could he have had a plan from the beginning? Kisu had never known anybody as nice as Lancer was and it just wasn't usual. While sustaining his act, Lancer had lied about his last name for one of two reasons: Either he lied to simply hide the fact that he was a Riocynn and because he knew the Karysan government would act out against him or he was performing an undercover mission. As strange as it sounded, Kisu leaned towards "Undercover Mission" due to the fact that Riocynns were notorious for being hired hands, assassins, and reserve units during chaotic times.

Kisu put that thought on standby for now; maybe something later on would unravel the truth about her theory.

Next up, Lancer was a massive help. He helped with the food, chores, kids, even took care of Kayaji. Was he just nice or was he doing this to lure everybody in the Kairet Inn and everybody keeping him under surveillance to a false sense of security? It did seem that he did know he was being watched because Kisu would notice sometimes that his eyes would be fixated on the windows. Kisu gasped. A breakthrough! She had come to another conclusion; Lancer was not luring everybody into a false sense of security! Sure, he showed great kindness by helping with advertisements and even saving Carmine Anystarys from a group of men… but he was still under surveillance. But… in the Keralys Farm, where there were no authority-figures there to spy on him, he still showed great acts of honor and kindness by rescuing Cerulis and Kamina Uraski, the two Absols who owned the Keralys Farm.

Undercover Mission? That couldn't be. A normal agent of some sort would put the mission first before anything else. If he was really trying to complete a mission… he wouldn't have risked his life for the Absols… but that depended on how Lancer thought. Apparently that theory was still on standby.

His act on the Keralys Farm summed up a strong possibility of natural kindness even through a supposed cruelly raised childhood. He wasn't hiding an urge to kill, no, Kisu found out that perhaps even if he was obligated to kill all of those people in the past… the good part is… he never really wanted to. He never supported the humans in the annihilation of the Pokemon race and that was a relief. Isn't that what really matters? It doesn't sound ethical, but if you were put into Lancer's position and you STILL reserved good intentions somewhere in your heart… you are a mentally strong person.

This led Kisu to reminisce the event which led up to the assault of Karl Terres: Carmine's awakening. It seemed that she was a nice girl at first, a kind; proper girl… but Kisu had been observing her behavior for quite some time… funny thing… Kisu barely knew it. She was obligated to assume that Carmine was not what she claimed herself to be. Lancer had told her about how she was struck down by that gang of men which led to her emasculation. Carmine was beaten so bad she was asleep for quite a while. But what would make those men want to harm her to the point of near decimation? There was a hint of suspicion but there was a possibility that they were just racist men who wanted a quick laugh in beating up Carmine. Though her mind would have been altered if she KNEW about the red envelope they actually beat her up for. Due to her lack of information, he assumed that those were just violent racist men assaulting her for no reason.

Though Kisu did find it suspicious that Karl Terres just happened to appear right after Carmine awoke, it was obvious why he arrived in the first place. Odd, even during that stressful and dangerous situation, Kisu was still unconsciously but definitely observing Carmine's reactions, that is, until Kayaji received that bullet, all hell broke loose at that moment. Before Kisu stopped monitoring Carmine, she realized that the proper girl she thought she was turned into something else. There was a certain look in her eyes that did not match one of a proper girl, no; it was like she was holding something back. Maybe… maybe she was able to fight back? No way. Even as Karl aimed his gun at her she didn't make an attempt to defend herself, instead, Lancer tried to do it FOR her which ended up in his receiving a bullet to the shoulder just as Kayaji did.

Kisu's opinions were now in favor of Lancer but drew up questions about Carmine. Then, just as a truck ramming into a wall… a dreaded truth revealed its morbid face. Kisu felt her heart skip a beat when she remembered that Lancer was the Ronin Mercenary which led to knowing what the dictionary definition of the word "Mercenary" was! He was travelling to Ms. Aika, the Dictator of the Hoenn Region, the reason these lands have been marked in damnation and violence, and she had something for him to do?

This cleared up the "Undercover Mission" suspicion.

Though Lancer WASN'T on a mission to begin with, travelling to Ms. Aika FOR a mission couldn't be good and knowing how Ms. Aika was a very manipulative person… what if she was able to convince Lancer to work for her with him thinking he's doing good for people?

For the moment, Kisu didn't care about figuring out Carmine's deal. The walls around her tore themselves apart and collapsed, forcing her into an adrenaline rush. She had shot herself though her sleep but as her head popped off that pillow she instantly knew something was wrong. She was in a hotel, yes, but that wasn't the problem. She and Carmine bought out this hotel room and their rooms were separated by a little door between them but… when Kisu looked up at the noticeable Karysan camera in the corner near the clear window… electricity sparked out of opened areas randomly. The camera was stunned for some reason. Then, as Kisu was getting ready to get out of the bed, she noticed a half-drunk glass of water. What was that for? The water was somewhat foggy as if… Kisu gasped… there were pills in it. No, that couldn't be… could it?

There was a soft voice in Carmine's room. Who could that be? Who do you think? It was Carmine, but… who was she talking to? Was she talking on the phone or something? Then…

"Whoa!" Kisu almost screamed when she heard a deep male voice speak incoherently. "There's someone else here?" Kisu slowly got up from her bed and went to the door which separated the two rooms, opened it ajar, and stared through to see that the camera in Carmine's room was also stunned. "What the…?" Kisu whispered when she saw a Lucario sitting on the bed next to Carmine. Kisu, at the moment, was more fixated on the Lucario. It was a male but there were so many things odd about him. For one thing, every single piece of fur on his body was white while an odd green aura rose off of him as if he was on fire.

What did that remind Kisu of? Instantly she had a flashback to Lancer a few moments after Kayaji was shot. Lancer had this same sort of flaming aura except Lancer's was blue while this Lucario's was green. What did this mean? There was a huge black-bladed scimitar on his back and a belt with various gadgets. Kisu couldn't see his face but… now she needed to focus on what Carmine was talking about. Something bad was definitely happening. Kisu could feel the negative aura filling the room.

"Okay then, I'll give HQ a call." Carmine said as she tapped her left ear gently three times which led to the extension of a microphone which halted at the edge of her lips. She then adjusted a knob on the base of the microphone and it dialed as if it were a basic telephone.

"Could you put that on a speaker?" the Lucario asked as he lifted his right foot up to rest on the bed.

"Sure." Carmine turned the knob once more and almost instantly Kisu could hear the dial tone.

Carmine paced the floor until somebody picked up. Though the greeting was undoubtedly unusual due to the voice alteration, she knew exactly who it was but just not that person's name. Carmine referred to this person as "The Responder". The Responder's communication device disguised his or her voice in a fusion of a male and female voice, causing confusion to anybody who may be tracking the call, but that was impossible, no matter how hard the Hoenn Region tries to intercept all calls, the technology given to Carmine is immune to a privacy breach. Too bad she wasn't counting on an eavesdropper.

"Agent Carmine Anystarys, I presume." The Responder greeted. The voice alteration was loud and clear though to most it would be trippy and incoherent. Carmine lowered her voice as she replied in an "Affirmative" just so she wouldn't attract any wandering ears from outside of her hotel room.

"Your receiver was on stand-by for an uncomfortably long period of time. I was forced to receive the information about the red envelope from another Agent."

"My apologies," Carmine sincerely replied, "I tried to make the chase long and convincing for those Team Kedetys Operatives, though they ended up assaulting me at the end of that chase."

"Team Kedetys…do they mean the drug-dealers and Pokemon slave-owners?" Kisu asked herself quietly.

"Were you raped?" the responder asked, unlike most big-shots who wouldn't care enough about their Agents.

"Negative, normal physical assault: Beat down."

"I see." There was a brief pause until the responder continued, in the meantime: Carmine was hoping her efforts with her mission, which she had apparently played out during the time where Lancer found her, was not in vain. "Now I may give you some good news out of all this."

"Was my mission a success?"

"…A monumental success. Team Kedetys believes they found Jirachi's Star and they have now commenced in a withdrawal operation for all of their Operatives." Team Kedetys, led by the money monger Conway Kedetys, consist of mostly drug dealers, Pokemon Slavers, and "Captured" aka Pokemon Slaves. Kisu was right about them.

"Perfect. Though I believe this mission was slightly risky. What if one of them has seen Jirachi's Star at some point and knew for a fact that it emitted a bright red?"

"Team Kedetys knows only that Jirachi's Star is… technically a detour on the long road to domination."

"Jirachi's… Star?" Kisu had no idea what they were talking about but when she heard the word "Domination"… she didn't know what to think. The first thing that came to mind was just two groups fighting each other. Maybe they were talking about dominating Team Kedetys or something… but why would they need something with a name like "Jirachi's Star"?

"Now that just leaves us with finding the real star, right?" Carmine asked.

"Yes. Team Kedetys will be preoccupied with the replica for quite some time so we'll have time ourselves to actually find Jirachi's Star."

"Permission to ask a question?" Carmine tried her hardest to sound professional even if she was new to this task force herself.

"Permission granted and… at ease. Don't take this conversation so seriously."

"It has only been a month since I have joined the Feral Sicarians. I know that Jirachi's Star is meant to awaken Jirachi before that 1,000 year comet but… you've never explained to me why it's so important."

"The Feral Sicarians?!" Kisu had to cover her mouth so she wouldn't make a noise. She knew all-too-well about these guys. They were like "Pokemon Liberators" or at least that's what they preferred to be called. Though most of the world believes that the Feral Sicarians is just a cult of Pokemon emitting acts of racism against humans… it is true that they are fighting for good causes such as rights for Pokemon. How they fight for these rights, however, isn't ideal.

"Naïve girl…" the responder chuckled, "I've only told my truly reliable agents what Jirachi's Star does but don't you worry… for the sake of the rights of Pokemon… the Feral Sicarians will fight until all humans respect us as equals. You got that?"

"Yes. That's what we're all fighting for." Carmine gave of a reassured smile even if she knew that The Responder couldn't hear it.

"Now, why were you on stand-by for all of this time?"

Carmine didn't hesitate to explain why, she was sure the responder would understand, "When I was beaten by those Team Kedetys bastards, a Lucario saved me. I'm starting to think that's how I got out of there alive."

"You felt as if they were going to kill you?"

"Perhaps… I don't know."

"Well, continue."

"Okay. Well, this Lucario saved me and his friends nursed me back to health. But now it seems that the Lucario wasn't a friend after all, I don't know… I want to trust him but he knew he was wanted by the Karysan Empire and…"

"Do you know what he was wanted for?" the responder asked, the altered voice making nonsense of his or her voice tone.

"Well. I may have an idea but they didn't make it completely clear. They just wanted him out of there… dead I believe."

"Did they kill him?"

"Negative."

"Is he still there with you?"

"No, it looks like he's leaving Lilycove city."

"Did he know anything about the envelope?"

"He saw it but he never asked me about it."

"Well… that's alright. Now, is there anyone else there with you?"

"Yes. Kisu Narraley: A shiny Gardevoir."

"Dispose of her, please."

"What?" Carmine asked while Kisu asked herself in her thoughts. Her heart beat twice with the volume higher than normal. Her vision blurred for a second as she realized that she was a target.

"You heard me." The responder's voice sounded stern but… you know… voice alteration pretty much drained out the seriousness. "Kill her. You can't have anyone with you."

"No…" Kisu whispered, nearly whimpering.

"Why can't I just leave her?"

"You can't have any connections. We'll find that Lucario you were talking about later on but for now, he's leaving and Kisu's not. Understand?"

"Negative…"

"Do you even have the equipment to kill her? I know you're a Sentinel but… seeing that you were beaten I am sure they took most of your gadgets with them."

"Affirmative…"

"Okay then, never mind. Let Isaac take care of it for you then. Don't worry about it. In the meantime, you need to get yourself more gear there, thiefy." The Responder cut transmission before Carmine had a chance to say anything else. Carmine knew there was nothing she could do about it, with her headset the responder will be able to pinpoint her location and send an assassin to kill Kisu.

As Carmine hid her headset, the Lucario burst out laughing. It was a wheezy but cruel laugh. "What's so funny?" Carmine asked, trying not to laugh as well.

"It seems a stalker is eavesdropping on this conversation… and not the good kind of stalker too."

Kisu's heart skipped a beat once again. Her eyes widened while her pupils dilated. He had detected her. She felt like she needed to run but her legs felt wobbly.

"There's a good kind of stalker?" Carmine asked.

"Whatever… be right back." The Lucario vanished with ease.

"You've got to be kidding me…!" as the Lucario disappeared, Kisu felt a presence behind her. Her emotion was frozen… a blank terrified look. It was as if the cold, bony hand of the Grim Reaper tapped her on the shoulder and said "Time to die." Ironically, she did feel the touch of the presence behind her… unluckily for her… that touch forced her down to the ground with her face dragging across the white carpet.

"Wait a minute!" Carmine yelled. The Lucario obeyed and released Kisu. Tears rolled out of Kisu's eyes, tears of pain and fear. She had no idea what was going to happen to her but by the looks of this… the outcome definitely was not going to be positive. "We drugged you, Kisu." Carmine just came out and said it. Kisu was right; that half-drunk glass of water did contain a pill at some point. "Technically… you weren't supposed to be awake for another 4 hours but… whatever."

"Why…?" Kisu was speechless and that was the only word she could utter from the floor.

"I could go with the whole 'I'll tell you but I'll have to kill you' routine… but that just seems pointless. How about we just kill you without telling you?" Kisu knew it! She knew there wasn't something right about Carmine and now… out of nowhere… repercussions were in order.

"Even… after we rescued you?"

"Actually, Lancer rescued me so I spared my superior knowledge of the fact that he IS a Riocynn, like my little friend here."

Kisu choked on her own saliva right as Carmine said "Riocynn". This Lucario here was seriously… a Riocynn? How could that be? Does he have the green-eyes of a Riocynn? Kisu couldn't see it; he towered over her to the point where his snout covered visual on his eyes. How could Carmine have access to another Riocynn? So many questions were rushing through Kisu's mind but she couldn't answer them all.

"I hear you found my baby bro…" the Lucario said. Kisu, even with the vague information she was given, automatically assumed he was speaking of Lancer. Baby bro? This guy was Lancer's brother? Where did that come from? Well, technically they did have the same last name but Kisu heard that in the Riocynn clan; families were separated and said to be their own unique family. Apparently when Isaac says "Baby bro" they were both in the same "Family". Kisu felt so confused, her mind was racing so fast… everything… everything was going so fast. "Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Isaac Riocynn, the one worthy of the title 'The Undefeatable Lucario'."

Kisu suddenly felt bold knowing that this Isaac character was one of those cocky people who think they are the most important thing ever. "I don't care!" she responded.

"Oh, how rude," cruelly, Isaac stomped on the back of Kisu's head and smashed her face against the carpet, "Unlike my brother, I have a low tolerance for bitches."

"You're Lancer's brother… huh… you sure don't act like him. At least he's better than you and he doesn't brag about it, eh?" Kisu grunted, "What business do you have with him anyways?"

"None of your business. It's funny because… I could have sworn I killed him such a long time ago," Isaac chuckled, "Guess I missed something somewhere… I don't know."

"Sorry Kisu but… my superior wants you dead." Carmine re-intervened, "And… what The Responder says… goes."

"You're not even going to let me defend myself verbally?" Kisu coughed up blood on the carpet, "Please… I'll do anything." That bold feeling disappeared. "I'll help you do whatever it is you have to do just… please… it's not my time to go."

"I think The Responder already decided that it's your time to go." Carmine teased.

"…you would do this even after Lancer rescued you? Even after I let you in my Inn? Even after we nursed you back to health?"

Carmine showed some signs of inner war which she tried her hardest to conceal. Was she fighting herself on this secretly? Was she trying to decide what the right thing to do was? "Yes, I would do this even after all you did for me." Damn it. Carmine was not going to easily betray her "Superior". This was bad. Kisu was running out of options, as a matter of fact, it is obvious she is ALREADY out of options. Manipulation apparently wasn't going to work here and she couldn't defend herself. What COULD she do?

"So…?" Isaac asked.

"Yeah… just… just kill her before I change my mind, okay?"

"No!" Kisu screamed, "Get back here Carmine, I'm not done talking to you!"

"Really?" Carmine opened the door, "Well, I am." She slowly shut the door; the last thing Kisu saw of Carmine was her eyes burning into hers… what a great last image. Everything happened so fast, Carmine didn't even want to bother with the emotional details of this situation.

"DAMN IT!" Kisu screamed in her mind as her heart doubled its pace. She kept thinking "Not like this… not like this!" at that moment, she squirmed her way away from Isaac's foot, stumbled up to her feet, jumped over the bed, and took cover as if she was under fire.

Carmine left the room as Isaac glared at Kisu with a surprising lust in his eyes. With the cameras stunned… there was nothing the Karysan Empire could do about what was about to occur. Kisu recognized that lustful look and the first word to come to mind was… rape.

"No… no… no, no, no, no, no!" Kisu yelled as she grabbed the lamp next to her and charged Isaac, giving off a battle cry. She would rather go down fighting, thinking Isaac would kill her if she was armed rather than raping her to death. No matter what, Kisu never wanted to die like that… never. Who did?

She took a hard swing at Isaac who deflected it with his left elbow. It shattered into hundreds of pieces… then… that is when realization struck Kisu: Green eyes. Isaac had green eyes. It was true, he was another Riocynn, Carmine, Isaac, and The Responder weren't bluffing about that even if they had no motive in the first place to lie about something like that. The evil green-eyed Riocynns… she had actually met one… this was horrible. Isaac grabbed her by the waist, flipped her around so her back was facing him, reached into his belt, pulled out a staple gun, forced her back to so she was bent over… and… horribly… cruelly… evilly… he stapled her wrists to the carpet. Kisu let out a bloodcurdling scream until Isaac shoved a pillow case in her mouth.

"I am one of the few Riocynns born with an odd disorder which causes my inevitable death if I do not figure out methods in restoring my energy constantly through outside means. It is an aura disorder: MHAED or Male Hereditary Aura Exertion Disorder." As Isaac spoke, Kisu could only shiver in fear of what was about to happen to her. "In other words, the only reason it looks like green flames are coming out of me is because I have a problem controlling my energy… like all Sentinels but my case is much worse. I would never want to let women I respect or love contract this disease so normally happy fun sex is out of my reach. Though it hasn't been proven that MHAED is contractible with Pokemon who aren't Lucarios or Riolus… I don't want to take that chance. You will be raped and killed here today. End of story. Oh yeah, and don't worry. Nobody will know you were raped…"

Kisu began to shed tears. Her entire life flashed before her eyes as soon as she felt Isaac enter her body. Her entire body reached temperatures she never sustained before. The pain was unbearable, so unbearable that she instantly felt like she was going to faint. She felt a liquid drip out of her… Isaac had ripped her hymen and blood seeped out. That pain was now assisted by a scorching-like burning.

"…you will be investigated as a suicidal Gardevoir. Oh, don't you worry. You don't have to do it. I'll 'help' you. Think of it as an assisted suicide…"

"Lancer!" Kisu screamed in her mind, "I know this guy's coming for you soon. I know he's looking for you by that look in his eyes. I know you can't hear me but… when you meet him… kill this son of a bitch!!"

Isaac inhumanely cackled at Kisu's pain as his "member" ripped her apart from the inside. This was the end. Kisu knew it. The end had finally come. The… the end of her life.

**

Exactly one hour after the scenes previously explained. Isaac Riocynn proceeded to hanging Kisu Narraley over her hotel bed. She dangled there, as limp as can be. Blood ran down her legs, down her mouth, out of her eyes with cuts and bruises everywhere even with the staples still in her arms. For a moment there, it was as if the entire world had gone silent while Kisu dangled on that rope facing the window.

With that, as the image of Lilycove city vanished from view… Lancer's heart skipped a beat due to some odd spiritual distress. Something bad had happened but he decided to ignore it. "Goodbye Lilycove. Goodbye everybody… goodbye… Kisu." When Lancer mentioned her name… he felt almost… distressed. "It's nothing" he told himself. No… he felt it… little did he know that the connection he grew with Kisu over the past few days has been cut due to her death.

Goodbye forever, Kisu Narraley.


	11. Impending Fallout

Following Kisu's "Assisted Suicide"; Isaac and Carmine took refuge in an underground bunker for the Feral Sicarian agents who are either in a bind or need someplace to fill up on gadgets or items. Carmine, being one of the many Sentinels in the world, needed gadgets to fight her way out of sticky situations. In the position she was in the Kairet Inn, she had nothing to defend herself therefore she could only freeze up and watch Lancer take a bullet for her.

Isaac only tagged along because of the fact that Carmine was his newly assigned partner. They may be new as partners; however, they have been comrades ever since they were enlisted in the Feral Sicarian ranks. Isaac, surprisingly like Lancer, joined the Feral Sicarians to redeem himself in a way. Though his heart was still as black as the night's sky, he still felt some guilt from being a part of the attempted annihilation of the Pokemon race. Lancer felt this way as well but did not go off and join a group which claimed they do what is best for the Pokemon race as a whole.

As far as Isaac knew, the superiors of the Feral Sicarians were lying to him and everybody else but he didn't see it fit to go off accusing them of what MIGHT be. Isaac, for some reason, felt The Responder was a trustworthy person even if she keeps their identity an absolute secret. He, among a very small group of people, knew that the Responder was female.

In the Feral Sicarian bunker, Carmine met up with a man who gave her the equipment she needed for the new assignment The Responder had begun. It was a peculiar mission but Carmine felt she had what it takes to complete it without getting caught. She was a professional thief after all, remember, it was part of her plan to re-steal the replica of Jirachi's Star from Conway Kedetys to make it seem like the Feral Sicarians were trying to retrieve it at all costs.

What is the mission you ask? Well now, there's no harm in waiting for all of that to be revealed. The Responder believes this mission will be the first step in actually capturing Jirachi's Star; it begins with getting the attention of the Sevynn Syndicate, an elite group of Operatives implemented to protecting the Karysan Empire at all costs. Their intentions were slippery and sneaky; while defending the Karysan Empire… The Responder knew that the Sevynn Syndicate was doing this for some sort of personal gain. Exactly what they were doing it for… well… The Responder couldn't receive that much information from her sources.

To make the Feral Sicarians known and feared respectively, something drastic needed to be executed in Lilycove city. Knowing how the quote-on-quite "Good Guys" work, it would only be necessary to tell them nothing of their soon-to-be-executed plan against Lilycove city. This would just waste time, the leaders of the Sevynn Syndicate will take hours to try and negotiate… and that's just valuable time in searching for the real Jirachi's Star wasted. No, after the plan has been executed The Responder will contact the Sevynn Syndicate which will lead to a first impression that the Feral Sicarians were not to be messed with like some sort of creeping malevolence.

"This plan is to be executed quickly and discreetly," The Responder contacted all 7 agents who were assigned to this mission, "Do not take any unnecessary time up, do what you need to do and get the hell out of there." She redirected her briefing to Isaac individually, "And Isaac, make sure you've taking your stimulants before you go. We don't want your MHAED to drain all of your energy out in the middle of this mission now, do we?"

"Understood." Isaac responded. As a Lucario with MHAED, Isaac is always feeling as if his energy is being drained out drastically every second because… it is. Stimulants such as steroids plus an understandable dose of sugar help Isaac's body restore enough energy to get him through a certain period of time without becoming drastically fatigued.

Preparation was quick and easy. Carmine had equipped everything she needed on a tight leather belt just like Isaac's. The 5 other agents in Lilycove city had begun their assignment which led to Isaac and Carmine to be the last agents to get on the case. They did what they had to do and that was it.

Want to guess what they were doing? Go ahead. The sentence starts with T and ends in S. Obvious? Most likely not. They were planting bombs. With all of these bombs combined, the entire city will be destroyed. That is exactly the kind of publicity The Responder wanted: To be respectively feared due to immense power and tactics.

The Responder could only think of it as necessary to throw a celebration after the first strike was completed. In The Responder's mind, this will have been the birth of a civil rights group except this group is way beyond the normal picket signs and strike routines. The Responder, in a dimmed down room with her team of hackers surrounding her with their wooden desks and laptops with a massive screen covered the majority of the wall it was placed on, watched their progress.

The screen revealed exactly where the bombs were placed in Lilycove city… all in order. 7 bombs at the East Wing, West Wing, Southern Wing, and Northern Wing of the city, then the individual bombs: One was at the town mall, urban area, then the orphanage where Kerrece and Nashi were sentenced.

"The bombs are in position." One Agent stated, a Chimchar, "What are your orders?"

"The obvious: Remotely activate all of the bombs and set them to 25 minutes. This'll give our agents enough time to escape." The Responder smiled through the dimmed down environment, her teeth glowed bright white. "Looks like it didn't take that much time… hehe… this plan is foolproof." The Responder, without her voice alteration module messing with her voice, gave out a loud cackle. "This is the beginning of the liberation of Pokemon, this is it!" she lowered her head with that smile still on her face. "The game begins."

**

Mauville city, Underground Establishment of Team Kedetys: One Minute after activation of Feral Sicarian bombs.

In a control room similar to The Responder's, there were 10 anonymous men along with the leader of the group of drug-dealing Pokemon slavers: Conway Kedetys with his brother Garmen Kedetys. They sat next to each other with widescreen laptops resting on their thighs. It was too obvious on who Conway was and who Garmen was: Conway was the fit, fancy businessman-looking man on the left while Garmen was the portly, frat-boy-looking man on the right.

Next to each other with the anonymous workers in the background, all human, Garmen turned to Conway and muttered "Do you really think The Responder fell for our charade?" he was eating a bag of chips while saying this so his words came out muffled.

Conway's right leg rested on his shoddy wooden chair, his knee stuck up in the air covering half of his face from the bright light of his computer screen. He had dark eyes which were covered by his overflowing red hair. He turned towards his brother slowly and muttered in response "Of course." He chuckled then continued. "The Responder wouldn't even imagine us being on to her little scheme. By making us believe we stole Jirachi's Star she thinks we have pulled back all of our boys and started our journey to find Jirachi. I said that envelope held my financial future, I made it seem like it was such a tragedy when Carmine Anystarys stole it from me while I visited Lilycove city… heh… it's pretty complicated I know. In layman's terms: We steal it, she steals it, we steal it back. I'm such a genius."

"Hey, that guy could've fooled me." Garmen and everybody else assumed that The Responder was a man because they were so sure a woman was not able to come up with such disturbingly intelligent plans.

"Come on… status report, people!" Conway roared out of nowhere. Everybody around him was startled; one man even almost fell out of his seat.

"Yes. Sorry." One man responded in favor of everybody else. "By tracking down all of The Responder's transmissions we think we might have found his location." Just as the massive screen in the center of the room in The Responder's control room, an identical screen appeared in the center of THIS control room revealing the locations of targets in bright red periods.

"Our Operatives got 'em in?" Conway asked.

"Yeah." The same man responded. "Sapphire Ryoka reported that she had the hardest time but she got it in anyways."

"Aah that Sapphire, always so trustworthy." Conway muttered to himself. "I must remember to fix her up a little more food than the rest of her little Pokemon friends." He shifted his right leg down to the floor and put his left leg up on the chair.

"With these bombs, we'll make our point to the Sevynn Syndicate AND the Feral Sicarians. They will learn that they can't treat us lightly." Garmen snickered. "It's only a matter of time before Mossdeep city is completely underwater."

This was definitely a predicament. Team Kedetys believes that the Feral Sicarian main hideout was in Mossdeep city and to get rid of their leader, The Responder, they were going to completely wipe it off the map just as the Feral Sicarians were going to do to Lilycove city! There was only one variation: The Feral Sicarians were terrorists and only mustered up that plan to bomb Lilycove just to get the Sevynn Syndicate's attention as they believed that Team Kedetys was preoccupied with that replica of Jirachi's Star.

Also, as a reminder: Sapphire was the female Pikachu in the Keralys Farm who opposed Lancer with her Rakeris Variety. Yes. She's back.

Back to the task at hand: This wasn't good at all. If two cities were to be wiped off the face of the Earth, who knows what the Karysan Empire was going to do about. What WERE they going to do about it? They have been chasing the Feral Sicarians and Team Kedetys for quite a while and had no success… maybe it was because Ms. Aika believed they weren't much of a threat? If that was truly the case, Ms. Aika is an absolute moron.

"Hey bro," Garmen muttered, finally finishing up his bag of chips, "I've never seen anyone from the Sevynn Syndicate. In fact, I don't really know that much about them."

"Damn it, Garmen!" Conway almost shouted, "I've already told you once. The Sevynn Syndicate is there to make sure that the Karysan Empire doesn't fall before its time. In other words, they are technically acting as their bodyguards until they die out on their own!"

"…Because the Sevynn Syndicate is afraid of something like… Team Kedetys taking complete control of the Hoenn Region…?" Garmen threw his bag on the floor like a filthy slob. A Mr. Mime picked it up and walked away without saying a word.

"…Precisely." Conway let out a devilish smile. "They know the Karysan Empire is weakening. This Totalitarian government they established is a complete joke. With the Region under the rule of Team Kedetys… what do you think of an Absolute Monarchy, eh?"

"Ah, the same Conway." Garmen coughed and hacked. "I guess that dream of being a king when you were little never died out, huh?"

"You could say that." Conway folded his red hair back to get it out of his eyes. "You might as well start calling me King Kedetys."

"Hmm… I always thought the whole 'Absolute Monarchy' thing was a little primitive but King Kedetys does have a nice ring to it." Garmen always agreed to what his brother had to say. He was like the fat sidekick who sat around in the background and said things of absolutely no interest. "So, bro… you need my help on anything else?"

"Well…" just before Conway had time to finish or even start his sentence, a gang of in-group hookers; all multiracial: Humans, Eons, Gardevoirs, Roselias, and other various Pokemon. Normally they come around every now and again for guys who want to take a break. Sad actually… none of these girls even know what they're doing. On first sight you probably wouldn't notice but it seemed that Conway and most of the medical Operatives he hired know a dark and odd secret: All of these women were injected with a hormone-increasing drug which causes their urges for sex to rise over 300%. Farfetched…? Yes. The only way to figure this out is to notice the fact that all of the women's eyes are dilated.

All of the other male Operatives in Team Kedetys believe these girls just want sex because they were getting paid for it… plain and simple. No, it was much more complicated than that… though… with the logic of most of these men… would they even care if they knew these women were injected with that hormone-increasing drug?

Garmen, being the furry he is, took a little defenseless Leafeon as his "Slave".

"…of course." Conway muttered in annoyance. "No matter, he's only a distraction." He wiped off his forehead from incoming sweat. "Let's set these puppies to 10 minutes, just to build some suspense, shall we?"

"Uh, sir…" one man protested respectively, "Don't you think we should just detonate the bombs now so we can--"

"10 MINUTES!!" Conway roared like an immature child. As unnecessary as that timing sequence was, Conway had no idea that once their 10 minute timer started… the Feral Sicarian's bomb timer reached 10 minutes. Their bombs were going to detonate at the exact same time.

**

This city is full of fools. They were completely oblivious to the doom that had discreetly besieged them. As these humans and Pokemon walked passed Isaac, he couldn't help but think about what they were thinking themselves. What was it like to be completely unaware that you were going to die in 10 minutes? He didn't want to know.

Carmine walked close-by, glancing at all of the fashionable women's clothing, various brands of perfume, etcetera. Isaac and Carmine were friends though Isaac always made it seem like she was a sidekick rather than a friend. Truthfully, he didn't care whatever she thought he was to him; he just needed to complete what he needed to complete. That was all. Sooner or later he was going to have enough free-time to continue his search for Lancer. To think that Lancer was in this very city not-so-long ago was unnerving… Isaac would have never guessed.

His black scimitar clanked against his spine with its leather sheath which strapped around his shoulders and across his chest. People would stare at Isaac because of his sword but what caught their attention at first glance was the fact that Isaac's fur was completely white and that it looked like he was on fire… a greenish fire. Just as Lancer was stared at because of his blue eyes, Isaac was stared at for his unusual looks plus his green eyes. Neither of these were apparently the natural eye-color for a Lucario, it was only normal when that Lucario had the last name Riocynn.

Either way, Isaac had no idea how lucky he was. As soon as Cyrus Brown was court-marshaled… the entire city stopped their Riocynn search so that meant Isaac was off the hook even with his green eyes. The new general figured that if Lancer was such a good guy… that means the other Riocynns may have changed as well. Whoever this new general was… was WAY too forgiving.

"You know what?" Carmine shattered the awkward silence between them as they strolled down the street, "I've always wanted to visit this city's mall but I never really got the chance." She gave Isaac a "Can we please?" look, trying to sell it out by watering up her eyes a little bit for an extra shine.

"Do the phrases 'Ten minutes' and 'Activated bombs' mean anything to you?" Isaac responded sternly. "I'd rather go into a gay porn shop than be at a huge risk like this!"

"That sounds gay." Carmine replied annoyingly, she put her claws behind her neck as if she were lying on her back. "Come on, I've always wanted to visit the mall but I want you to come too!"

"Is this another half-minded last-second plan to get me to go on a date with you?" Isaac saw right through her little scheme though it was a bit unobvious with the whole "mall" thing. "We have 10 minutes to make sure we get out… not to shop for tampons."

"Hey!" Carmine squealed. "Isaac, you're lucky someone like me is even interested in someone as gloomy as you."

"Oh please." Isaac muttered, "We all know you're about as morbid as I am. It's no wonder you're pursuing me. Though with your whole 'Personality Alias' thing… you keep shifting around so I'm not quite sure what to call you."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Ah, never mind." Isaac sighed as he adjusted the weight of his scimitar on his back. A few of the families in the area increased the speed of their pace just to keep a safe distance. "How about instead of risking our lives for shopping at the mall…" Carmine sighed when Isaac said that, "…we go off and watch the explosion from Mt. Pyre. Does that sound alright to you?"

"So… you mean it's a date?!" Carmine's eyes sparkled with anticipation.

"Well... if you think watching hundreds of people die in a fiery explosion is a date then… I guess."

"Ya-a-a-ay!" Carmine squealed as she jumped up to Isaac's height and wrapped her arms around his neck, suspending herself about 2 feet from the asphalt. The combined weight of Carmine and the scimitar on his back was a bit overwhelming but, just so he wouldn't fall over, Isaac stopped, grabbed Carmine by one of her two feather-shaped tails, and gently placed her on the ground. "Sorry…" she apologized.

Isaac didn't respond. He merely reached in his belt and pulled out a whistle in the shape of a Latis (Latios or Latias). With this in the grip of his green aura hands, he watered his lips and blew on the whistle. No Pokemon or human heard the whistle except for Isaac's target. A Latias flew from the sky in black-plated armor covering the normally red areas of her body. The Latias had already received permission from Lilycove city to come in and out whenever she pleased. Isaac called her Aerial.

Aerial slowly descended, taking her sweet time until she almost hit a street light… then she swerves out of the way… nearly causing a two-way car crash. "Sorry!!" she called out to the infuriated drivers.

"How's it going, Aerial?" Carmine greeted while putting her legs next to one another and bending her torso over forward to give a cultural greeting.

"So, the bombs have been activated, right?" Aerial quickly got to the point; completely ignoring Carmine.

"Yes. Little Miss Morbid over here wants to go shopping in the 10 minutes we got." Isaac crossed his arms and gave Carmine a stern look.

"…Little Miss Morbid?!" Carmine almost yelled, "You're the one who just raped and killed Kisu Narraley!"

"…And you still want him to go on a date with you…" Aerial muttered, "Either you're just stupid or you really ARE morbid."

"Hey, shut up… you… you…"

"Hey, don't strain yourself." Isaac interrupted as he climbed up on Aerial. "Y'know, I COULD just leave--" before he had a chance to finish his sentence, Carmine was already behind him with her arms wrapped around his waist.

"You know you don't mean that!" she buried her face in his furry back.

"Su-u-ure I don't." Isaac muttered. "Sometimes I wonder, Carmine. Sometimes… I wonder."

**

25 minutes was quite a while for something like the detonation of a bomb but as soon as those last 20 seconds came up, the Operatives and Agents of Team Kedetys and the Feral Sicarians started a simultaneous countdown. Believing whatever their leaders stated, the followers of Team Kedetys believed they were just about to kill The Responder while the Feral Sicarians believed this was the beginning of their domination of the Hoenn Region for they, just as Team Kedetys, was fighting for control. With the "Liberation" of Pokemon… apparently there had to be absolute control of a large mass of land… or… at least that's what The Responder said.

The Responder, as well as Conway Kedetys, right at the last 20 seconds, started to believe that this operation was just too easy. Something was wrong. They just waltzed in, planted some bombs, evacuated their forces, and got the fuck out of there… plain and simple. But with an operation as life-changing as this… could there really be a "Plain and Simple"?

The Responder, concealed by the darkness of her control room for identity purposes, could only hope that the operation would go perfectly. No distractions, no interruptions… just a smooth operation but in the long history of operations which lead from one thing to another… just as the questions asks "Is there really a Plain and Simple?"… is there really a "Smooth Operation"?

The countdown reached 10. In Team Kedetys' control room, Garmen returned with exactly 10 minutes on that Leafeon he chose. He returned sweating… with another bag of chips and joined in the countdown. Conway could only wait for celebration; he kept a serious face and concentrated.

Isaac and Carmine watched Lilycove city from atop Mt. Pyre. Carmine, trying to make a move on Isaac, rested her head on his left shoulder. She thought he would have at least left her alone, but Isaac grabbed her left, feather-like ear and shoved her away.

"How romantic." Aerial giggled, "You guys make a perfect couple." Isaac didn't say anything; he just waited to close his eyes as the bright explosion ravaged Lilycove. He had no sympathy for the residents, they were all fools, and this entire government was full of fools.

"5… 4…" the men in both control rooms counted down, everything was going according to plan, no interruptions… until "3…" right as that number was called out, everything went straight to hell. There was a blackout in both control rooms which led to Conway and The Responder both yelling out at the exact same time "What the hell?!"

An alarm sounded as the screen flashed bright green for Team Kedetys and bright blue for the Feral Sicarians, both screens displaying the words "Countdown on Standby". What the hell was happening? How was it that their bombs were put on standby like that? All bombs were just stuck on the number 3 which led to all of the hackers trying to reactivate the bombs on both sides.

"We've been hacked!!"

"Somebody cut off our transmission somehow! We don't have control over the bombs anymore!"

Both The Responder and Conway grinded their teeth together in anticipation, whoever was fucking with them like this… they'd better show themselves. Both Team Kedetys and the Feral Sicarians were in disarray. Funny how similar these two groups except for their ideals, The Responder could only sit there with her eyes fixated on the screen as well as Conway.

Despite The Responder's supposedly good intentions, she had a secret somewhere within her that only her top most trustworthy agents could know about. As for Conway, it was completely obvious he had no good intentions. Being the leader of a drug-dealing, Pokemon-slave owning group… there was no way you COULD have good intentions.

One full minute has passed since both groups fell into disarray. All of the men behind the desks of their computers tried their hardest to reestablish a wireless connection with their bombs but all efforts were in vain… then… explanations were in order.

"Hello Feral Sicarians… Team Kedetys." A familiar voice to The Responder but not to Conway greeted through the standby screen of both groups. Soon, the visual on the screens switched to a logo of some sort with the word "Ratio" under it. The Responder let out an out-of-character shriek of realization. Ratio Oedepius: the former leader of the Kyrekesa Rebellion during the Anti-Pokemon Revolution. In a way, The Responder envied Ratio but was now in no position to show that. Conway, however, had no idea who Ratio was. "I am Ratio Oedepius, leader of the Sevynn Syndicate, bow down before me bitches." He was completely serious when he said that.

"Ratio Oedepius." The Responder greeted, recollecting her calm demeanor, "Excuse me if I go straight to the point but what have you done?" the Pokemon working for The Responder all let out confused grunts… why was their "Bow-down-to-no-one" leader showing her respect to Ratio Oedepius?

"Yes." Conway intervened into the conversation since this was his problem as well. "What have you done?"

"Want me to be straight to the point as well?" Ratio asked with a taunting voice. "Sure. I'll explain it in layman's terms just so I won't have to repeat myself: I put yo bombs on standby mother fuckers!" Ratio let out a cocky laugh, abruptly stopped, then muttered "No terrorist activities will go unpunished. Though I must admit it was ridiculously easy to figure out what you guys were doing over here…"

The only question to rush through The Responder's mind was "Does he have… wiretaps in our control room?!"

"This guy… is the leader of the Sevynn Syndicate?" Conway asked himself.

"…Thank you for not making it such a hassle to locate the connection to your bombs. Heh. This is what happens when you don't think things through or spend enough time thinking it over…" Ratio scorned like a parent. "All you and Team Kedetys are… is a bunch of unintelligent terrorists and criminal offenders, that's all."

"Damn it… he got us." The Responder thought. "I can't believe he put our bombs on standby… there's… no way, he would need a satellite to do that. Unless…" she sighed. "Ratio Oedepius, still as sharp as ever I see…"

"No matter. I won't bow down to you Ratio. You can't break me." Both The Responder and Conway said at the exact same time.

** **

1. The Responder (The commander of the Feral Sicarians) is known to be female by only a few. Most enemies, however, assume she's a man.

2. Carmine was said to have been a transporter for Jirachi's Star but she was ambushed and mugged by Team Kedetys Operatives. Shortly afterward, she stole it once again and was mugged… once again. All part of the Feral Sicarian's plans.

3. It is said that The Responder is the only human in the Feral Sicarians, but that rumor has not been confirmed for it is mostly believed there are NO humans in the Feral Sicarian ranks.

4. It is said that the Feral Sicarian's main hideout is in Mossdeep city, but that has not been confirmed even if it seems that the Sevynn Syndicate knows it to be true.

5. As soon as Cyrus Brown was court-marshaled, Lilycove city started letting green-eyed Riocynns inside because of model behavior. They figured if Lancer was a Riocynn and he was good… that meant other Riocynns may be good as well.

6. Ratio Oedepius is a codename. Oedepius, however, is rumored to be Ratio's last name but that couldn't be true.


End file.
